Dressing up as endangered fish or tigers, or with polar bears on their heads, the protesters marched through Brussels on Sunday (local time) to urge world leaders at the UN Climate Change Summit in Glasgow to take bolder measures in the battle against climate change.
Thousands of people and 80 organisations participated in Sunday’s protest, aimed at the largest such event in the European Union’s capital since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has stalled the environmental movement’s weekly marches.
Cyclists, families with children, and white-haired protestors line the city’s streets chanting slogans in favor of climate justice, waving banners in English, French, and Dutch.
One was carrying a stuffed polar bear and others were dressed up as wildlife at risk from man-made climate change.
“After you’ve seen all the disasters we have seen this summer, it’s really crucial that we move now. Because everybody knows what the problem is,” explained Xavier De Wannemaeker, a demonstrator of Extinction Rebellion.
Scientists have since said there is little doubt fuel emissions contribute to the extreme weather events such as drought, fires and floods which have ravaged regions around the world this summer.
Environmentalists fear the 26th UN climate conference of the parties, known as COP26, which begins in Glasgow on 31 October is set to produce policies which do not do enough to lower carbon emissions and slow planet warming.
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