Demonstrations in Vienna and The Hague as a weekend of climate ... - Euronews
Demonstrations in Vienna and The Hague as a weekend of climate change protests begins | Euronews
A weekend of climate protests is planned in 54 countries around the world.
A long weekend of climate change protest began on Friday with a march in Vienna and a road blockade in The Hague.
Organisers say 20,000 people marched in the Austrian capital, while in its Dutch counterpart police used water cannons to disperse a road blockade by protestors from Extinction Rebellion.
Protesters in Vienna held up signs demanding higher taxes for CO2 emissions and an end to meat consumption.
The march came to a halt in front of parliament when members of the Last Generation group started to sit down in the middle of the street.
The protests — driven by several mostly youth-led, local and global climate groups and organisations, including Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future movement — were taking place in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities worldwide.
Protests are planned in 54 countries around the world. On Sunday marchers will protest outside the United Nations in New York where world leaders are gathering for its General Assembly.
According to the International Monetary Fund, governments spent a record $7 trillion (€6.5 trillion) on fossil fuel subsidies last year.
Over the past few months, Earth broke its daily average heat record several times according to one metric, July was the hottest month ever on record, and the Northern Hemisphere summer was declared the hottest on record.
Dozens of extreme weather events are believed to have been made worse by human-caused climate change.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate diplomacy
Talks are well underway in preparation for the next major international meeting on climate change, 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28), scheduled to begin Nov. 30 in the United Arab Emirates.
Much like last year’s COP27, finances — specifically, aid to developing nations — will be at the center of conference deliberations.
The conference faces an even greater sense of urgency brought on by the Sept. 8, 2023, release of the first global stocktake, which calls for accelerated action to meet the goals set in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (COP21).
Climate diplomacy: COP 27 | Climate diplomacy: COP 28 | Climate diplomacy: COP 29