bir yıl önce

Ahead of UN meet, climate activists urge world leaders to shun fossil fuels

Activists in 54 countries plan protests over the week to draw attention to the growing climate crisis due to the greenhouse gas emissions.

AFP

The protests were part of a week-long international effort by a non-profit whose purpose is to drive climate crisis action. Photo: AFP

Thousands of protesters kicked off the 'Climate Week' ahead of the UN General Assembly this week, calling on world leaders to end fossil fuel use.

The protests were part of a week-long international effort by Climate Group, a non-profit whose purpose is to drive climate crisis action and stop global warming, with more than 500 protests planned in the US, Germany, England, South Korea, India and elsewhere, totalling 54 countries.

With parades, concerts, and banging drums in New York, protesters waved signs that read "End Fossil Fuel Use" and "Fossil Fuels Kill" and "Declare a Climate Emergency."

One man was dressed as a melting snowman warning of rising sea levels. The message was for world leaders to save the planet from the use of oil and gas believed to be driving a warming globe.

Organisers of the protests expect a global turnout of more than a million people.

Scientists: Climate crisis made deadly Europe floods more likely, intense

"Climate Week NYC is all about getting it done," organisers wrote online. "Through celebrating climate action, challenging ourselves to do more, and exploring ways to increase ambition, Climate Week NYC inspires, amplifies and scrutinises the commitments, policies and actions of those with the power to make change happen."

Many scientists believe that so-called greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels are warming the world and causing severe weather such as more intense hurricanes, heat waves, floods, wildfires and droughts.

Reductions in CO2 or carbon dioxide emissions are seen as a key element in abating climate change.

The demonstrations take place two months before this year's U.N. COP28 climate summit, where more than 80 countries plan to push for a global agreement to gradually phase out coal, oil and gas.

A UN climate report released this month named 2025 as the deadline for global greenhouse gas emissions to peak -- followed by a sharp drop thereafter -- if humanity is to cap global warming in line with Paris Agreement targets.

The 2015 Paris Treaty has successfully driven climate action, but "much more is needed now on all fronts," said the report, which will underpin a crucial climate summit in Dubai at the end of the year.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has organised a Climate Ambition summit for Wednesday, during the General Assembly, at which he hopes to accelerate the ongoing work to counter climate change by governments as well as private sector organisations and financial institutions.