On Saturday 8 September, thousands of people across 89 different countries will gather to demand a 100% renewable future. Their motto is Rise for Climate.
Hundreds of demonstrations, sit-ins and roundtables, in as many cities scattered across five continents. All of this to shout, loud and clear, one single thing: those who hold the power to decide the fate of entire nations, or even of a small town, must use it to build a future based 100 per cent on renewable energy. A future that puts people and the Planet first, instead of being guided always and only by the blind logic of profit. This, summed up in a few lines, is the mission of Rise for Climate, a major grassroots mobilisation taking place on Saturday 8 September.
Rise for Climate aims to become one of the largest and most wide-ranging climate demonstrations ever held. In order to involve as many people as possible, the decision was made not to organise a single march, but to bring together the forces of dozens and dozens of local movements. To be precise, 748 events have been confirmed at this point, spanning 89 countries. Among the organisers are, among others, several local chapters of 350.org, Oxfam America, Amazon Watch, the French organisation Attac, Global Footprint Network, and so on.
According to the organisers, one of the "hottest" cities will be Paris: following the sensational resignation of environment minister Nicolas Hulot, attention to the challenges of the ecological transition is at an all-time high. In Quezon City (in the Philippines) and Bangkok (in Thailand), the march against the numerous coal-related projects will be entirely women-led. In San Francisco, an enormous street art installation is taking shape, while in several cities across the Philippines images sent in by demonstrators will be projected, to work around the obstacles involved in organising an in-person march. But the most striking events will probably be the demonstrations held in traditional dress by the peoples of some Pacific islands — the very same communities that contribute minimally to climate change, yet suffer its consequences in a dramatic way.
Italy, too, is answering the call. The main event in our country will be in Rome, in Piazza Testaccio, from 5pm to 8pm, but local initiatives will also take place in Salsomaggiore Terme (Parma), Marina di Carrara, Viggiano (Potenza) and Noto (Syracuse).
The date of 8 September is no coincidence, given that from 12 to 14 September 2018 the city of San Francisco will host the Global Climate Action Summit. It will be chaired by California Governor Jerry Brown; Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the Unfccc (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change); Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Indian automotive giant Mahindra Group; former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs in China; and finally Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Youth.
In chronological terms, the summit falls exactly halfway between two pivotal dates. The first is December 2015, when the historic Paris Agreement was signed. The second is 2020, the year that, according to experts, will represent a genuine point of no return for the planet we live on. If the emissions curve does not begin to fall again, there will be nothing more we can do to avoid the most harmful effects of climate change.
This event sets itself two overarching objectives. The first is to take stock of the results achieved by states, local authorities, businesses, investors and citizens, highlighting the most significant progress in the fight against climate change. The second objective is to persuade states to step up their national action plans (referred to in the jargon as NDCs, Nationally Determined Contributions), defining even more ambitious commitments to be met with the support of society as a whole, from businesses to ordinary citizens. These future commitments are structured around five areas: sustainable energy systems, inclusive economic growth, sustainable communities, land and ocean management, and investments with a positive impact on the climate.
