CLIMATE CHANGE

People power for Paris climate deal

Thousands around the world took to the streets on Sunday, Nov 29th, to urge the 195 nations represented at climate talks in Paris to come to a deal for the sake of the future. The following photographs of the People’s Climate March in progress were sent in by contributors Robyn Hutchinson, Lucy Hobgood-Brown, Ken Hamje and Jeanette Stanfield, respectively.

SYDNEY: Supporters of a not-for-profit organisation promoting the use of solar energy taking part in the rally in Sydney. Australia is one of the sunniest continents on earth, so producing power from the sun just makes sense, says SolarCitizens.

Adds John Telford, one of many ICA members who took part in marches in various cities across the nation: “We are trying to convince the Australian government to set a challenging target for emissions reductions and to get serious about investing in renewable power generation - after all we do have lots of space in our continent where we can put solar panels and wind turbines!” Unfortunately, even after we got rid of our key climate-change denier, we still have some politicians in power who think we should approve more coal mines.”

KINSHASA: Students from the Congo Protestant University’s Green Team Network were among those who took part in marches in the Democratic Republic of Congo in support of the climate talks. Deforestation of the Congo Basin is a  contributor to the global warming phenomenon. Many environmental activists are calling on the government and the French Development Agency to stop supporting industrial logging.

LIMA: Peruvians marching down an avenue in central Lima on Nov 29. About 10,000 people reportedly took part, a contrast to the government’s mild response to the issue of climate change. Many Peruvians have been affected by floods attributed to climate change and feel the governments of the world need to agree in Paris to make significant policy changes to save the planet.

TORONTO: Canadians rallying before the Ontario Provincial legislature building near Queen’s Park. Several thousand people took part in the event, which began with a ceremony of drums, presentations and ritual led by First Nations elders at Queen’s Park. Children from schools nearby brought plastic bottles that they connected together to create a pipeline, a symbol of the protests around building new pipelines to carry oil from the oil sands. 



London: Thousands join London climate change march, November 29