It's heating up around the globe. From Paris to Tahiti via New York and Doha, a call for a general strike was launched Friday, September 20, at the initiative of environmental collectives. This day kicks off the International Climate Week, which runs until 27 September.
Starting on Friday, various and diverse walks and initiatives are planned around the world, with one common goal: to put pressure on the leaders who meet for a "Climate Action Summit" at the UN, early next week. , At New York. Some 500 young South American, European, Asian and African leaders are expected today, in preamble of the summit, to beat the pavement. And no question that the now famous Swedish Greta Thunberg, 16, misses the event.
An unprecedented week
The UN invitation comes as climate change poses profound threats to the planet. The heat waves of the summer or forest fires in the Amazon are the latest illustrations.
And the question becomes more and more worrying if one believes the conclusions of new French climate simulations. Global temperatures could rise about 7 ° C from the pre-industrial period by the end of the century, according to the latest study. Scientific forecasts much more pessimistic than those announced at COP21.
>> To read: Climate: the always warmer tomorrows scenarios
In these conditions, the week of mobilization is organized and remains unprecedented in many ways. In Paris, a march is scheduled Saturday, Saint-Michel Park Bercy at 14:30 and in the morning a rally is held at 09:00 Place de la Madeleine, with some groups of "Yellow Vests" who called to join the fight environmental.
Monday, it is in New York that the scale of the mobilization should be without equivalent. All that the planet counts of environmental activists will sweep on the arteries of the Big apple.
The city of New York even allowed its students to dry the courses to swell the ranks of the demonstrators. The image of children and teenagers bottling the streets of the mega's famous avenues has never been seen before.
From Sierra Leone Farms to City Boulevards
But the week of mobilization for the climate is not limited to New York or Paris, nor to the big western cities. This unprecedented mobilization has spread all over the world. No less than 4,500 actions are recorded on both sides of the hemisphere. From the city of Barnsley in the north of the United Kingdom to the city of Ibadan in Nigeria. Demonstrations are even announced in small towns or villages.
But beyond the numbers (participation, number of actions), "this global movement is unique because it is not only worn by students, as was the case on March 15, ensures Clémence Dubois, head of the 350.org, in an interview with France 24. It is now an alliance of very different actors in society working in the same direction: young, old, working, unemployed, everyone feels concerned " .
It is not surprising, therefore, to see the unions join the cause. Thus, 76 organizations have joined in the global protest.
Companies commit themselves
Another peculiarity of this week of action, many companies have also chosen to plant the picket. The American clothing company Levi's, or the ice cream brand Ben and Jerry's who planned to close their stores and reduce the production of their factories.
In Australia, 200 brands announced to join the global protest movement. The eco-search engine Ecosia, for its part, announced to its French employees that it would pay legal costs if they were arrested during civil disobedience action in accordance with their commitment against global warming.
"We are no longer willing to accept the status quo"
While some see it as a new form of communication, the action remains non-typical. "The climate strike alone will not solve the climate crisis, say the organizers of the Global Climate Strike, but it will show that we are no longer willing to accept the status quo."
And Anais Darenes, head of communication project and advocacy REFEDD (French Network of Students for Sustainable Development), to continue, "it is unclear whether all these mobilizations will have concrete effects on leaders at the UN but if, if only words, some of them can convince others to do more for the climate, we will have already won. "
Some 60 countries are expected to announce strengthened climate plans, according to Alden Meyer, expert of the American NGO Union of Concerned Scientists, but a priori not large emitters, he believes with AFP. But to date, only Morocco and The Gambia have commitments "compatible" with the objective of the 2015 Paris agreement, according to the Climate Action Tracker.
What to expect from the Climate Action Summit? by France-24 on Scribd