New York City — After four million people marched in the streets for the Global Climate Strikes on Friday, the international climate campaign 350.org condemned world leaders gathered at the UN Climate Action Summit–and those who refused to show up– for failing to act at the scale of the climate emergency and vowed to keep up pressure in the coming days, weeks and months.
“World leaders say they know our house is on fire, but they are adding more fuel to the flames,” said May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director. In her speech to the UN climate summit today, Greta Thunberg told politicians that they were failing the youth and that they would not let them get away with it. She told world leaders that change was coming whether they liked it or not and to unite behind the science to keep global warming below 1.5°.
Despite the disappointing lack of concrete commitments expected at the summit and the huge obstacles like Trump, Bolsonaro, and Putin that still block progress. Over the last few months there has been a tectonic shift in climate politics.
“The climate strikes are having an impact,” said Boeve. “Momentum is on our side and what we’re seeing today is politicians stumbling over themselves to catch up. But the young people leading this movement don’t want praise or pats on the head, they want real, concrete action to leave fossil fuels in the ground and reduce emissions. They’re not going to let up and neither are we, the dirty fossil fuel party is over.”
This morning, hundreds of people shut down parts of Washington, D.C. to demand action to address the climate emergency. Meanwhile, in New York City, 350.org and their allies unfurled a giant banner reading “ExxonKnew: Make Them Pay” outside an Oil and Gas summit taking place nearby the UN. Other escalated actions will be taking place across the United States and Europe this week. Hundreds of thousands more people are expected to join climate strikes in Canada, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, Morocco and other countries on Friday, September 27.
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