Thousands of people took to the streets to demand swift action to curb climate concerns.
The mass march, dubbed People’s Climate March, coincides with the arrival of dozens of industry influencers in New York City for the opening day of Climate Week.
Big names including UN chief Ban Ki-Moon and blockbuster star Leonardo DiCaprio joined more than 600,000 marchers in New York. The city was just one of 2,000 locations worldwide where demonstrations were held.
Ban said: “This is the planet where our subsequent generations will live.
“There is no ‘Plan B’ because we do not have ‘Planet B’.”
US secretary of State John Kerry and Apple CEO Tim Cook will join Ban and 30 other political and business leaders today for the week. It’s hoped the gathering will produce specific calls to action ahead of the UN Climate Summit.
The event also spurred an announcement from the Rockefeller family stating its Rockefeller Brothers Fund has joined a coalition which pledges to divest $50billion of fossil fuel assets.
The move is a strategic shift in focus for the firm which was built on the back of oil tycoon John Rockefeller.
Fund director Stephen Heintz said: “We are quite convinced that if he were alive today, as an astute businessman looking out to the future, he would be moving out of fossil fuels and investing in clean, renewable energy.”
The fund’s investment assets currently sit at $860million.
