More than 400,000 people filled New York’s streets on Sunday for the People’s Climate March, the largest climate march in history.
“The number of people there was mind-boggling,” Nikita Singh, president of Students for Environmental Action (SEA) said.
Participation extended beyond the borders of New York. Throughout the weekend, citizens in 166 separate countries staged a total of 2,808 rallies calling for climate action.
Organizers of the People’s Climate March were volunteers from around the world who came together through a model of open-source participation.
“The goal of the Great March for Climate Action is to change the heart and mind of the American people, our elected leaders and people across the world to act now to address the climate crisis,” the organization’s website reads.
They carried out their mission in collaboration with over 1,500 businesses, unions, faith groups, schools, social justice groups and environmental groups.
The march was approximately two miles long and took place over a 26-block stretch of Manhattan, beginning at Columbus Circle and ending on 34th Street and 11th Avenue.
Demonstrators were accompanied by 26 marching bands and 14 food trucks, as well as a variety of floats and other creative pieces.
“There was a lot of artistry that went into the march,” Singh said.
The rally was deliberately planned to occur just two days before approximately 125 world leaders gathered in New York City for a UN summit on the current climate crisis.
“The main goal is that world leaders will start to take [the issue of climate change] much more seriously,” Abby Annear, an SEA member, said.
The SEA provided bus transportation to the rally for Hopkins students as well as students from other Baltimore-area colleges including Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Loyola College and Towson University.
“We had a good number of SEA members,” Singh said. “It was also a great chance to talk to students from other schools... The real outcome of the march was bringing so many people — like-minded, but still with various views on the environment — in one place.”
The march was split into various sections, each of which represented a different aspect of the climate change issue. Therefore, each person was allowed to choose a specific cause within the larger movement. Annear, for instance, decided to march with her fellow vegans in their section.
“If you wanted to talk about climate injustice, there was a section [of the march] for that. If you wanted to talk about renewable energy, there was a section for that,” Singh said.
Not all of these views shared common interests.
“Some people [marched] for nuclear energy [and] other people were against nuclear energy,” Annear said.
Despite some difference in opinion between the marchers, Singh said that the event was very peaceful.
“There was a positive energy around everyone there,” Singh said. “No one was aggressively shouting their thoughts. Everyone just seemed really happy to be part of a huge movement with a bunch of like-minded people.”
Annear was struck by the unity achieved by the event.“You [had] all these different groups all coming together just for climate action,” Annear said. “That’s all that everybody wanted. And I think just the solidarity that resulted from that was just incredible. [It was] incredible to be a part of. People do care.”
Supporters were not of a single demographic, but a wide, all-encompassing cross-section of the international population.
“There were so many kids,” Annear said.
Singh expressed similar surprise at the number of young people to attend the rally.
“I don’t think I was really introduced to these environmental issues until high school, so it was awesome to see such young kids absorbing these issues already,” Singh said.
Annear also said she was impressed the many older protestors at the rally.
“You’d think that — being in your 70s, 80s — you wouldn’t necessarily care as much, but the fact that they care about future generations I think speaks volumes,” Annear said.
Annear said she was also inspired by the sheer numbers of people who attended the rally.
“Just seeing how 400,000 individuals can come together, and stand together, shows truly that you can make a difference,” Annear said.
Annear said that the rally will motivate the SEA throughout the rest of the year.
“We’re just hoping for open discussion, and for people to realize that climate change is not political,” she said. “There won’t be a future for anyone if they continue to just kick the can further down the road and prolong [the issue].”
