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More than 400,000 people took to the streets of New York City on Sunday, September 21 in anticipation of a UN Climate Summit. The numbers are impressive: A total of 2800 events were held in 166 countries. It was the largest mobilization for the climate in history. Clearly, the time for action is now.
The marchers seem to have got their message across. The representatives of 73 states and 1000 companies that attended the summit decided to take a few more steps in the right direction.
In the wake of the climate week in New York City, a panel, "Climate action: NGOs, Businesses and Subnational Governments Take Critical Steps," co-sponsored by Equiterre, Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defence Canada highlighted the climate leadership of several provinces, states and businesses. The Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Glen Murray, said that having abandoned coal, Ontario now plans to focus on developing clean energy and green infrastructure. Mr. Murray and the other panelists representing Lafarge and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund agreed on the need to work to encourage nations to adopt ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Time is short.
The summit ended on a wave of optimism. The need to fight climate change was put on the international agenda, as was the need to reach a legally binding agreement to achieve a significant global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Several initiatives were also announced, thus paving the way for significant change at the next conference in Paris in 2015.
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Photo of Equiterre's Steven Guilbeault in NYC by Julien Charlebois.
