Global protests kick off Climate Week NYC and United Nations meetings

Climate protestors across 54 countries took to the streets ahead of a prominent climate summit and United Nations meetings in New York this week.

An estimated 75,000 demonstrators took over midtown Manhattan on Sunday, demanding an end to fossil fuels and urging President Joe Biden to stop approving new oil and gas projects and to declare a climate emergency.

"What [Biden] needs to do to earn youth votes and win the 2024 election is to end fossil fuels," said Emma Bruretta, a young climate activist who marched in the NYC protests.

The March to End Fossil Fuels featured appearances by actors Susan Sarandon, Ethan Hawke, Edward Norton, Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon, as well as politician Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who spoke passionately to a large and cheering crowd.

"We are all here for the same purpose, to protect the planet, the people and make sure that we end fossil fuels across the globe," Ocasio-Cortez said.

The annual week-long conference comes amid a historic stretch of climate extremes, with this year on track to be the warmest on record.

"Climate extremes are hitting North Carolina and other places all around the world and that's waking all of us up," said Tim Lenton, a Climate Week speaker and climate change and earth science professor at the University of Exeter who has recently published papers on how to enhance the climate scenarios used by investors and businesses to meet climate targets and optimize investments.

Climate Week coincides with the United Nations General Assembly, the first full-scale gathering since the COVID-19 pandemic, with a full-day U.N. climate summit called by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday.

Many of the leaders of countries that cause the most heat-trapping carbon pollution will not be in attendance, including President Biden. Instead, the White House is sending special climate envoy John Kerry.

Over the past 100 years, the U.S. has put more heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than any other country, though China now emits more carbon pollution annually. China's President Xi Jinping will also skip the U.N. climate meeting.

The demonstrations take place two months before this year's U.N. COP28 climate summit, where more than 80 countries plan to push for a global agreement to phase out coal, oil and gas gradually.