New York – Activists on Friday prepared protests around the world to demand action on climate change, just as two major week-long climate events took place in the city of New York.
Actions in Berlin, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi and many other cities are being organized by the youth-led group Fridays for Future. The group’s New York chapter was planning a march across the Brooklyn Bridge followed by a rally that organizers hope will draw at least 1,000 people. More protests were planned for Saturday and Sunday.
The city is hosting Climate Week NYC, an annual event promoting climate action, while the UN General Assembly is tackling the issue on several fronts, including raising billions of dollars to help the poorest countries suffering the most from climate change.
In Berlin, dozens of people took to the streets, though in smaller numbers than in previous years. Activists held signs reading “Save the climate” and “No more coal!” as they watched a concert taking place in front of the chancellery office. Protesters in London held up signs reading “Pay Up,” calling for the country to pay more to adapt to climate change and stop using fossil fuels.
The New York protest is meant to target “the pillars of fossil fuels” — the companies that pollute, the banks that finance them and the leaders who are failing on climate, said Helen Mancini, an organizer and a senior at the city’s Stuyvesant High School.
The youth climate protests began in August 2018 when Greta Thunberg, then an unknown 15-year-old, left school to protest in front of the Swedish Parliament to demand climate action and an end to the use of fossil fuels.
In the six years since Thunberg founded what became Fridays for Future, global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have risen by 2.15%, according to the Global Carbon Project. Emissions growth has slowed compared with previous decades and experts expect it to peak soon, which is far from the 43% reduction needed to keep temperatures within an agreed limit.