Organizers of the People's Climate March initially expected about 100,000 people coming to the event, which was billed as the biggest climate march in history. The number of participants, who actually came and participated, however, exceeded expectations.
On Sunday, over 310,000 people marched through Manhattan in New York City, which is about three times as originally predicted, to call for global leaders to take meaningful actions to avert the effects and potential threats of climate change.
Among the students, scientists, members of LGBT groups and indigenous communities as well private citizens who participated in the march were public officials and notable personalities including United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who will host a forum on climate change on Sept. 23, which will be participated in by over 120 government leaders and representatives. Former Vice President and renowned environmental activist Al Gore and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio were also there as well as Hollywood stars Edward Norton and Leonardo DiCaprio, and singer Sting.
"We need to demonstrate there are an awful lot of people that care about climate change and demonstrate that this is a huge issue for all kinds of people," said Bill McKibben, the head of 350.org, which helped organize the event. "Since the fossil fuel companies have money, we have to have something on our side, and that's people."
Although over 2,700 other similar climate events were also staged in other parts of the world to coincide with the People's Climate March, a number of protesters who came for the New York march were from far far-flung countries such as India, China, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Turkey, and South Africa.
Kathryn Leuch, an environmental activist from the Philippines, said she came to participate in the People's Climate March because of the threats posed by global warming to her country. She said that the continued emission of carbon dioxide could lead to more extreme weather events that are comparable to that of Typhoon Haiyan, which has killed thousands of Filipinos in 2013.
Many of the participants were also those who have experienced the devastating effects of climate change such as those whose homes were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy and those who live in homes with terrible air and water qualities.
"Today, civil society acted at a scale that outdid even our own wildest expectations," 350.org executive director May Boeve said. "Tomorrow, we expect our political leaders to do the same."
