At one minute to 1 pm on Sunday, 310,000 people marching on the streets of Manhattan stopped. Aztec dancers in colourful traditional costumes and feather headdresses froze. Native American singers silenced their drums. Up and down the streets and avenues, the protestors observed a minute of silence 鈥� 鈥渇or those who have died as a result of climate change鈥�, said one. The contrast with New York鈥檚 iconic advertising screens was frankly bizarre. Their glamorous images illuminated placards calling for more solar and wind energy.
Then, at 1 pm on the dot, sirens and horns blared and everyone erupted into a loud fanfare.
The march marked the start of New York鈥檚 6th annual climate week and the first ever high-level summit on climate change summoned by the secretary general of the United Nations. If it all feels a little bit like a repeat of the run-up to the conference in Copenhagen in 2009, it鈥檚 worth paying attention to the details (see 鈥�UN ready for climate change talks in New York鈥�).
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鈥淚 think things are different this time around,鈥� said Vaishali Patil, a climate ambassador for campaign group , and convenor for the Forum Against Disastrous Projects in Konkan, India. 鈥淧eople are more angry and assertive than they were in Copenhagen.鈥�
People power
Patil confessed to believing more in 鈥減eople power鈥� than in the UN process, but said that the politicians would have to listen. Twenty minutes earlier, Al Gore, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and New York mayor Bill de Blasio were whisked away by their security detail, having joined the protestors for several blocks. Their presence was no doubt intended to show that the people鈥檚 concerns are being taken seriously at the highest level 鈥� but then, it was already clear that these politicians are on board with the climate cause. It鈥檚 the others that continue to cause concern.
鈥淚 hope things will change,鈥� said Mike Fabricant, who was marching with the trade unions, before confessing that he wasn鈥檛 completely convinced they would. So why come at all? 鈥淚t鈥檚 about being part of something that is bigger than yourself. You can鈥檛 be dragged down,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard over here [in the US], we鈥檙e fighting against the tide sometimes.鈥�
鈥淵ou have to keep up hope,鈥� said Jordan, an anarchist marching with his partner Adele, a teacher. Together they brandished a sign that read 鈥淐limate change is real. Teach science.鈥� Neither felt like things were likely to change. 鈥淏ut you have to take a stand. There has be to bodies on the street.鈥�
Up and down the streets, those feelings of determined hope but quiet scepticism dominated. Climate change demonstrators have not forgotten the fiasco of the 2009 Copenhagen climate talks, but there was a strong sense that they would continue to stand for what they believe in.
鈥淔ar more people believe that climate change is happening and is caused by human emissions,鈥� said primatologist Jane Goodall. 鈥淲hether we can act fast enough, I don鈥檛 know, but that鈥檚 why I spend my life getting young people to take action now, now, now. Tomorrow is no good.鈥�
Making promises
鈥淢y greatest hope for Tuesday is that some actual teeth get put into promises to control [climate change],鈥� added Goodall. On that day, all eyes will be on the United Nations headquarters on Manhattan鈥檚 east side where heads of state and high-level ministers will meet. Also in the building will be representatives from city government, public transportation, industry, agriculture and forestry. Officials have promised a slew of announcements about money and measures to combat global warming.
The co-participation of governments and industry in this summit is significant. 鈥淚t recognises that governments are important but so are investors, businesses and cities,鈥� says Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute in Washington DC.
鈥淚 hope that the summit will give a real sense that the issue is in a very different place to before. That it is integrated as part of core business practice, and core economic and social practices, rather than a situation where you have climate and environment over here and economics and finance over there. They are so deeply linked.鈥�
Businesses will be looking to governments for reassurance that investments in sustainable technologies are worth their money. Likewise, says Corinne Le Qu茅r茅 of the UK鈥檚 Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, signals from business leaders would help nudge governments in the right direction. 鈥淚f we want to keep [warming] to 2 掳 globally, two thirds of fossil fuel reserves need to stay in the ground,鈥� she says. 鈥淎ny indication next week that there is a willingness to not exploit all reserves would be a positive outcome.鈥�
Read more: 鈥�World on track for worst-case warming scenario鈥� and 鈥�UN ready for climate change talks in New York鈥�
