It’s pay-to-play at the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit taking place on Wednesday, September 20th. UN Secretary-General António Guterres invited world leaders to attend, but only if they come to the table with more ambitious plans to tackle climate change.
Thousands of activists hitting the streets this week have their own ask: for the US, the world’s biggest oil and gas producer, to phase out fossil fuel development. They came from out of state and other countries to march through Manhattan on Sunday and have risked arrest at protests across the city.
Hundreds more events are planned throughout NYC’s Climate Week, which has attracted all kinds of brands — from Big Tech to startups trying to develop new-fangled ways to erase greenhouse gas emissions.
The Verge is on the ground at the summit and this week’s biggest protests and events.
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Climate protesters arrested outside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The Verge saw NYPD fill at least three police vans with protesters who marched through NYC’s financial district to end fossil fuels. Demonstrators are still blocking entrances to the bank, and there are more arrests going down.
Thousands of people flocked to New York City for the ‘March to End Fossil Fuels’ today.“It’s not just a country issue. It’s a whole world issue,” says Diana Sanchez, a coordinator with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, who joined the march. “You have hurricanes, you have natural disasters, and it causes people to migrate over. And then they come to this country in search of work, and then they overheat while they’re working … So it was very important for us to be here representing all the voices that are not being heard.”
Actors add their support to end fossil fuels.Edward Norton, Jane Fonda, Mark Ruffalo, Rosario Dawson, Alyssa Milano, Marisa Tomei, and Alicia Silverstone are among the actors who joined some 700 activists and organizations that signed a letter urging President Joe Biden to phase out fossil fuels. The letter comes ahead of a ‘March to End Fossil Fuels’ and a United Nations Climate Ambition Summit in New York City next week. “You have the executive authority to stop approving fossil fuel projects, phase out fossil fuel production on federal lands, and halt oil and gas exports,” the letter says.