The People's Climate March

Three of us from St John's met three from Trinity on the train on 21st September - we'd been part of the largest every march for action on climate change, hoping that if the politicians know we still care then they'll have the courage to act. The date was chosen because it was two days before a UN climate summit in New York - the chair's summary from that summit can be found here.

Responses to the event differed:
Christian Aid praised the new political atmosphere in which heads of state committed to specific actions to tackle climate change.
Responding to Sunday’s record breaking People’s Climate March through New York, world leaders started the process of putting the world on a safe and secure footing.

Friends of the Earth International Climate Justice and Energy coordinator Dipti Bhatnagar said: "The Climate Summit was a fool's paradise out of touch with the climate emergency we are facing. The finance pledges tabled at the Summit had no specifics, no timelines, and nothing saying if they are about new and additional climate finance or simply aid pledged in the past and diverted from its original destination."

CAFOD
“World Leaders still lack the urgency that 500,000 people marching around the world are calling for, but there is no question that the summit was a big step forward,” says CAFOD’s Head of Advocacy and Communications, Neil Thorns. “The Prime Minister in New York and Ed Miliband in Manchester sent clear signals that the millions of people who are deeply concerned about the impacts of climate change are being heard. However, what we now need to see are concrete proposals from all parties about how they will develop low-carbon economies and support the development of the poorest sections of society.
“After years of malaise and pessimism, it’s all to play for again,” says Neil Thorns. “If we continue to act together, we can push for action in the UK and globally in the run up to the Paris talks next year, where a fair and binding global agreement is the goal.”