Thousands of people in New York ask to end fossil fuels

With our sights set on the presence of more than 140 world leaders at the General Assembly of the UN In this week that begins, thousands of people asked for Sunday in NY the end of the fossil fuels in the face of the emergency climate change.

“Biden, end fossil fuels”, “We can’t eat money”, “Fossil fuels are killing us”““I did not vote for the fires and the demonstrations”said some of the banners that people of all ages carried along 2 km between 53rd Street and Broadway before ending in front of the United Nations.

“We are here to demand that the administration declare a climate emergency”asked Analilia Mejía, co-director of the Center for Popular Democracy, one of the nearly 700 organizations that participate in this initiative to eliminate this type of highly polluting fuels and the main cause of global warming.

According to a UN climate report published on Friday, humanity must reach the peak of its CO2 emissions in 2025 if it wants to tackle the climate crisis.

“The problem is so serious that we must wake up and take immediate measures”added the 46-year-old activist of Mexican origin to AFP, remembering “that horror is possible” as demonstrated by the extreme climatic events experienced in recent months, including the fires in Canada, Hawaii and Greece, with the consequent emissions of toxic smoke, the floods in Libya and the record temperatures.

Another young climate change leader, Nalleli Cobo, 22, who has worked with the Swedish Greta Thunberg on awareness campaigns, highlighted “the power we have as individuals” for “demand that a livable future be guaranteed not only for this generation but also for future ones.”

The activist, rather than asking the leaders for anything, would simply invite them to “spend 24 hours at home” in southern California, near an oil and gas well.

“I guarantee you that at the end of those 24 hours you will see oil differently,” The young woman told AFP, who at the age of 19 suffered from ovarian cancer and attributes it to “toxic air” that has breathed.

“Our lives are at stake,” he warned.

The US state of California filed a lawsuit on Friday against five of the world’s largest oil companies, alleging that they caused billions of dollars in damage and deceived people by downplaying the climate risks of fossil fuels.

The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, called for a Summit on Climate Ambition on September 20, during the General Assembly, in which more than 140 leaders are expected, with which he hopes to accelerate the actions of governments, companies, finance and local authorities and civil society to reduce this problem.

“History will remember their action, or inaction… If we are lucky, human beings will be around to remember what (world leaders) did at this summit”Mejía challenged them.

Source: AFP