REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, Sep 19: As Prime Minister Sushil Koirala left for New York to attend a climate change summit called by United Nations (UN) General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, a group of activists carried out what they called people´s march in Kathmandu on Friday.

Activists involved in Campaign for Climate Justice Nepal (CCJN), which is affiliated to Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice (GCDCJ), marched toward the UN house early in the morning, vowing to fight for climate justice and urging world leaders to change the system to tackle climate change. 

Friday´s climate march took place at a time when world leaders are flying to New Work to discuss their plans, strategies and commitments to deal with climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping poor people adapt to the impacts of climate change. 

Ahead of the UN climate change summit, which will take place on September 23, activists are now organizing climate marches in several cities of the world, exerting pressure on world leaders to show strong commitment to deal with climate change. 

Even on Saturday, another group of climate change activists are organizing a climate march in Kathmandu, urging world leaders to use the UN climate summit as an opportunity to ensure a better future. 

"Through the Kathmandu climate march, we want to urge world leaders to restrict global temperature rise and help poor people to adapt to the effects of climate change," said Raju Pandit Chhetri, a climate change activist. “The UN climate summit is a historic opportunity and we urge world leaders not to squander this opportunity.”

Before he flew for the UN climate change summit, Prime Minister Koirala also received a memorandum from the Kathmandu climate march activists. Climate change activists have urged Koirala to strongly raise the voice of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the UN summit. Nepal is the current LDC chair on the UN panel on climate change. 

The UN climate summit is being viewed by activists as an opportunity to regain momentum that the world has started losing with some developed countries, especially Australia and Cananda, turning their back to their own commitments to fight climate change. 

Source: www.myrepublica.com (2014-09-19 22)