Activists have mobilised in cities across the globe for marches against climate change, with one of the biggest planned for New York, where celebrities, political leaders and tens of thousands of people are expected.
Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, former US vice president turned advocate Al Gore, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio were all due to take part on Sunday in what organisers hoped would be the largest climate change protest in history.
The “People’s Climate March” in New York has been endorsed by more than 1400 organisations, including environment, faith and justice groups, as well as labour unions. Students have mobilised marchers from more than 300 college campuses.
The rallies, including another 2500 around the world, take place ahead of a climate change summit hosted by Ban on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
In the French capital, nearly 5000 people protested, according to police estimates, many on bikes, with banners that read “Climate in danger” or “World leaders, act!”
“Before we could say we didn’t know. Now we know. Climate change is already underway,” Nicolas Hulot, the president’s special envoy for the protection of the planet, told the crowd in central Paris.
In the southwestern city of Bordeaux, up to 700 people also marched.
Protesters held banners, one reading: “If climate was a bank, they would already have saved it.”
Hundreds more protested in several other cities in France.
In Madrid, hundreds gathered in front of the Environment Ministry, brandishing signs with slogans including “There’s no Planet B,” “Change your life, not your climate,” and “Our climate, your decision.”
In Cairns, Australia, where finance ministers from the G20 nations were meeting, more than 100 people wearing green paper hearts around their necks gathered outside the venue.
They repeatedly chanted “Every dollar spent, every single cent, 100 per cent, green energy” and carried banners including one that read: “Add climate change to the G20.”
“I’m here because I’m a parent, I’m here because I’m a scientist, I understand what climate change means for our planet, our children, our economy, our health,” said John Rainbird, an Australian biologist.
Hundreds also gathered in other Australian cities, including Adelaide on Saturday. At least 10,000 people attended the rally in Melbourne.
In New Delhi, India, around 300 protesters carried placards that read “I want to save forests” and “Coal kills”, as they shouted slogans and danced to pounding drum beats.
The UN meeting Tuesday sets the stage for a crucial conference in Paris in December 2015 aimed at finalising an agreement.
