World Leaders met in New York Tuesday at the United Nations 2014 Climate Change Summit to debate the necessary steps that must be taken in order to drastically cut carbon emissions and reverse climate change.
At the summit, President Barack Obama challenged China to join the USA in cutting carbon emissions. The USA and China are the world’s two largest economies, as well as the two largest polluters.
The U.N. hopes to negotiate a global climate treaty by 2015, and experts say the USA and China’s participation and cooperation is necessary for other countries to accept the treaty and for it to be successful, according to the New York Times.
Leaders from countries in all stages of economic development and areas of the world stated a desire to peak emissions of greenhouse gas before the year 2020, hoping to reduce climate emissions after that date and to eventually reach climate neutrality after 2050.
European Union countries made a commitment to reduce carbon emissions to 40 percent below the levels they were at in 1990 by the year 2030.
In preparation for the summit, people from across the country, including students from a few different groups at NC State, gathered in New York City for the People’s Climate March Sunday.
More than 400,000 marched around the city Sunday in an effort to draw attention to the topic of global climate change days before world leaders met at the United Nations climate summit to debate environmental action.
The march was reported to be the largest climate march in history, far exceeding the number of participants who attended last year’s Forward on Climate rally in Washington D.C., which is thought to have drawn about 40,000.
Jason Endries, a senior in meteorology who marched with the NC State Stewards, said the crowds were much larger than expected, but the overall experience of being around so many people with the same mindset was incomparable.
“The amount of people there was just incredible,” Endries said. “The fact that so many people with the same mindset were there at the same time was just amazing.”
Alli Kenlan, a sophomore in environmental science, attended the march with a group of NC State students in buses organized by the environmental campaigning organization Greenpeace.
Kenlan said she would like the United Nations to give more attention to reducing carbon emissions and finding new ways to produce renewable energy.
“That is what I really find to be the biggest root of the problem,” Kenlan said.
According to Endries, the United Nations should think seriously about eliminating the use of coal fire power plants because they are currently one of the main sources of carbon dioxide emission in the U.S.
“It’s the difference between getting a few million people to change their lifestyles versus really focusing on the big, main culprits, which are the big companies and the coal fire power plants,” Endries said. “I would like to see leaders take more interest in investing in green energy.”
At 12:58 p.m. on Sunday, all 400,000 marchers held a moment of silence for people who have already been or are currently being affected by climate change around the world.
“It was crazy to see a New York City street full of thousands of people be completely silent,” Kenlan said.
Endries said the most important message that came out of the march is that climate change doesn’t affect any one group of people, and no one group of people can help stop it.
“In order to make change and move away from using fossil fuels, everyone needs to take action,” Endries said.
