Global protests held as climate talks stumble © Philippe Lopez / AFP | People gather at Hotel de Ville, in central Paris, to take part in the march for the climate, on September 8, 2020.
An international day of protests over climate change kicked off in dozens of cities around the world Saturday, as key UN talks aimed at breathing fresh life into the Paris Agreement took place in Bangkok.
As global warming races ahead of efforts to contain it, the discussions are deadlocked over a number of contentious issues, with activists demanding immediate action to prevent irreparable damage to the planet.
The “Rise for Climate” protest movement, which has organised events in dozens of countries on Saturday, wants governments to end their reliance on fossil fuels and transition fully into renewable energy.
Beginning in , a tall ship moved through Sydney Harbour in front of the Opera House as activists on board held up protest signs.
Its billowing sails featured banners that read “Rise for Climate; Action with 350” – referring to environment advocacy group 350, which spearheaded the global protest.
Greenpeace‘s Jean-François Julliard discusses the protests
In Paris, the looked set to have renewed momentum this year, FRANCE 24’s Chris Moore reported from City Hall in central Paris.
“There is a healthy turnout today,” said Moore, as thousands of people waving banners and clapping hands marched in the background.
Some 20,000 people responded to an appeal on Facebook, launched by a man called Maxime Lelong who described himself as an “ordinary concerned citizen”, saying they would attend Saturday’s protests.
Lelong’s appeal came in the wake of the resignation of France’s popular environment minister and celebrity green campaigner, , who quit his role last month, accusing the French government of only taking baby steps in the fight against climate change.
Hulot’s appointment was a coup for n – Hulot had declined to serve under previous French presidents – but his public resignation on live radio at the end of August dealt a damaging blow to the Macron government’s green credentials.
Hulot resignation was ‘a turning point for many people‘
NGOs and organisers of Saturday’s events in Paris stress that it is not about supporting one politician or another, Moore added, it’s really about honouring the words that Hulot gave when he resigned.
‘In an era of ,’ Hulot said, ‘many people are simply resigned to their fate on climate change. That’s the absolute opposite of what we need. The organisers want a big turn out on the streets of to show that the general public haven’t forgotten that this is a pressing concern.
Key sticking points in Thailand
In the Thai capital, some 200 protesters assembled in front of the UN regional headquarters, where delegates were discussing how to implement measures agreed by world powers under the 2015 Paris Accord on .
The talks aim to create a draft legal framework for limiting global temperature rises that can be presented to ministers and heads of state at a final round of discussions in in December.
The delegates have been meeting since Tuesday, but have made little progress, according to multiple sources close to the negotiations.
“The negotiators are not taking any action,” Ruchi Tripathi, head of climate justice at charity ActionAid, told AFP.
In particular, the issue of how the fight against climate change will be funded – and how that funding is made available to developing nations – remains a key sticking point.
Dozens of labourers and fishermen from the Gulf of Thailand, whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels and coastal erosion caused by climate change, joined Saturday‘s protest.
Many brought examples of their produce, including crabs and shrimp, and held banners demanding that delegates take action.
“I came here today to ask the government to put coastal erosion on the national agenda,” 58-year-old fisherwoman Aree Kongklad told AFP.
She said that the mangrove forests near her coastal home had been destroyed, jeopardising the supply of crabs that are her livelihood.
In Manila, more than 800 people, including one dressed as a Tyrannosaurus rex holding a “Go Fossil Free” sign, marched through the streets protesting the country‘s heavy reliance on coal.
Along with Bangkok, the Philippine capital is projected to be among the world‘s hardest hit urban areas by climate change impacts.
“We are among the most vulnerable and we are among those still stuck in an energy system that is backwards,” campaigner Chuck Baclavon told AFP, adding that the government is out of excuses.
The country has been the victim of powerful weather phenomenons like Typhoon Haiyan, a deadly superstorm that left more than 7,350 people dead or missing across central Philippines in November 2013.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)