People´s March towards the COP20 began in New York

- Hundreds of Peruvians marched and called for a continued mobilization on December 10, as part of the People's Summit against Climate Change to be held in Lima.

Servindi, 22 September, 2014.- Tens of thousands of people mobilized yesterday through the streets of New York City demanding concrete actions to curb climate change. The march has been considered the largest global mobilization against this phenomenon in history.

Over 1100 social organizations and political leaders, including the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, joined various public figures such as Vandana Shiva and actor Leonardo Di Caprio at the massive demonstration.

A long-term struggle

"This demand is unanimous. If Ban Ki Moon himself has had to go out and march in the streets, it is because world leaders do not take seriously enough this global crisis", said Antolín Huascar from New York, spokesman of the Unity Pact of Indigenous Peoples of Peru.

"Citizens and communities around the world are already suffering the consequences of governmental inaction. Scientists have warned that urgent action is needed to avert a planetary catastrophe", he added.

"We know that Manuel Pulgar Vidal, Minister of Environment of Peru, came to the march, but just for the photo. Marching should be the expression of a long-term struggle that requires consistency and commitment, which the Peruvian government is lacking", continued Huascar.

"On the contrary, the Peruvian government pushed for legal reforms to benefit the extractive sector, exacerbating the vulnerability of indigenous peoples and all Peruvians to climate change", Huascar concluded.

The Peruvian delegation at the march was led by the images of indigenous leaders Edwin Chota, recently killed in the defense of the Amazon forest, and Máxima Acuña, leader of Cajamarca region known for defending the Andean lakes from large scale gold mining.

New York is just the beginning

As part of the impressive mobilization in New York, representatives from the Political Organizing Committee for Peru´s Alternative Peoples’ Summit announced the Global March in Defense of Mother Earth to be held on December 10 in Lima.

"New York is just the beginning of an amazing movement directed towards the COP20 in Lima and the COP21 in Paris. Lima is a major milestone on the road to a global climate agreement" said Rosa Guillén, member of the People's Summit Political Organizing Committee.

"Citizens demand action, not words. We take up the post from New York towards the March of December 10th in Lima, as an expression of a global movement that is growing stronger", she added.

"In a context in which the urgency of abandoning the fossil fuels energy matrix is being discussed, it is contradictory that Ollanta Humala government chooses to accelerate the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the country", Guillén said.

“The government has a double standard and seems inconsistent and idle in the face of increasing deforestation and illegal logging, which recently caused the murder of four Amazonian indigenous persons”, she claimed.

"Climate change leadership should be expressed in concrete actions at the national and international levels", Guillén concluded.

The People's Summit to be held in December 2014 in Lima could accommodate over 8000 activists and 200 social organizations from around the world.