Current:Home > NewsYouth activists plan protests to demand action on climate as big events open in NYC-LoTradeCoin
Youth activists plan protests to demand action on climate as big events open in NYC
View Date:2024-12-23 20:03:08
NEW YORK (AP) — Activists geared up Friday for protests around the world to demand action on climate change just as a pair of major weeklong climate events were getting underway in New York City.
The planned actions in Berlin, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi and many other cities were being organized by the youth-led group Fridays for Future, and included the group’s New York chapter, which planned a march across the Brooklyn Bridge followed by a rally that organizers hoped would attract at least 1,000 people. More protests were planned Saturday and Sunday.
New York is hosting Climate Week NYC, an annual event that promotes climate action, at the same time the U.N. General Assembly takes up the issue on several fronts, including raising trillions of dollars to aid poorer countries suffering the most from climate change.
The New York protest was to take aim at “the pillars of fossil fuels” — companies that pollute, banks that fund them, and leaders who are failing on climate, said Helen Mancini, an organizer and a senior at the city’s Stuyvesant High School.
Youth climate protests started in August 2018 when Greta Thunberg, then an unknown 15-year-old, left school to stage a sit-down strike outside of the Swedish parliament to demand climate action and end fossil fuel use.
In the six years since Thunberg founded what became Fridays for Future, global carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels has increased by about 2.15%, according to Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists who monitor carbon pollution. The growth of emissions has slowed compared to previous decades and experts anticipate peaking soon, which is a far cry from the 43% reduction needed to keep temperature increases to an agreed-upon limit.
Since 2019, carbon dioxide emissions from coal have increased by nearly 1 billion tons (900 million metric tons), while natural gas emissions have increased slightly and oil pollution has dropped a tiny amount, according to the International Energy Agency. That growth has been driven by China, India and developing nations.
But emissions from advanced or industrialized economies have been falling and in 2023 were the lowest in more than 50 years, according to the IEA. Coal emissions in rich countries are down to levels seen around the year 1900 and the United Kingdom next month is set to shutter its last coal plant.
In the past five years, clean energy sources have grown twice as fast as fossil fuels, with both solar and wind individually growing faster than fossil fuel-based electricity, according to the IEA.
Since Thunberg started her protest six years ago, Earth has warmed more than half a degree Fahrenheit (0.29 degrees Celsius) with last year setting a record for the hottest year and this year poised to break that mark, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European climate agency Copernicus.
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
veryGood! (197)
Related
- Arkansas governor unveils $102 million plan to update state employee pay plan
- Brother of dead suspect in fires at Boston-area Jewish institutions is ordered held
- Jam Master Jay dabbled in drug sales ‘to make ends meet,’ witness testifies
- Grammy Awards ratings hit a sweet note as almost 17 million tune in, up 34% from 2023
- Burger King's 'Million Dollar Whopper' finalists: How to try and vote on your favorite
- Kelsea Ballerini Speaks Out After Her Candid Reaction to Grammys Loss Goes Viral
- Police confirm names of five players charged in Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal
- Delays. Processing errors. FAFSA can be a nightmare. The Dept. of Education is stepping in
- Taylor Swift Becomes Auntie Tay In Sweet Photo With Fellow Chiefs WAG Chariah Gordon's Daughter
- Travis Kelce Reveals What He Told Taylor Swift After Grammys Win—and It’s Sweeter Than Fiction
Ranking
- 25 monkeys caught but more still missing after escape from research facility in SC
- $1 million could be yours, if Burger King makes your dream Whopper idea a reality
- Patrick Mahomes at Super Bowl Opening Night: I'd play basketball just like Steph Curry
- Namibian President Hage Geingob, anti-apartheid activist turned statesman, dies at age 82
- Demure? Brain rot? Oxford announces shortlist for 2024 Word of the Year: Cast your vote
- Meta will start labeling AI-generated images on Instagram and Facebook
- Radio crew's 'bathwater' stunt leads to Jacob Elordi being accused of assault in Australia
- Dead geese found in flight control and debris field of medical helicopter that crashed in Oklahoma, killing 3
Recommendation
-
2025 NFL Draft order: Updated first round picks after Week 10 games
-
Imprisoned mom wins early release but same relief blocked for some other domestic violence survivors
-
Appeals court weighs whether to let stand Biden’s approval of Willow oil project in Alaska
-
When is Super Bowl halftime show? Here's when you should expect to tune in to watch Usher
-
Martin Scorsese on the saints, faith in filmmaking and what his next movie might be
-
Person in custody after shooting deaths of a bartender and her husband at Wisconsin sports bar
-
A total solar eclipse will darken U.S. skies in April 2024. Here's what to know about the rare event.
-
Viral video of Tesla driver wearing Apple Vision Pro headset raises safety concerns