A crowd of about 30,000 in Melbourne yesterday took part in a wave of global climate change demonstrations.
The People's Climate March was among the first of more than 2500 which were to take place around the globe today, ahead of the UN summit on climate change. A small protest in Cairns was held outside the G20 finance ministers' meeting.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop will represent Australia but Prime Minister Tony Abbott will head to the US the next day for a UN meeting on terrorism. "This is a clear testament that Australians want climate action regardless of what Tony Abbott and his Government are doing right now," GetUp! Campaigns chief of staff Erin McCallum said.
Campaigners say the cost of climate change - estimated at 650 million people affected, 112,000 lives lost, hundreds of billions of dollars - must produce real commitments from world leaders.
- AAP
