Activists plan NYC climate march before UN summit

NEW YORK — Labor unions and environmental groups said Wednesday they expect a huge turnout for a New York City march to draw attention to climate change taking place two days before a United Nations summit on the issue.

Organizers of the New York event, called the People’s Climate March, said similar actions will take place Sept. 21 in other cities, including Rio de Janeiro and Lagos, Nigeria.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited heads of state to a Sept. 23 climate change summit in New York.

President Barack Obama has said he will attend to help spur new commitments from governments, industry and civil groups for reducing greenhouse gas emissions ahead of next year’s global climate talks in Paris.

The U.N. weather agency said Tuesday that Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2013 as increasing levels of man-made pollution transform the planet.

“Hundreds of thousands of people from around the nation will descend on New York City streets to let our leaders know that we can no longer turn a blind eye to this crisis,” City Councilman Donovan Richards said.

Richards was joined by dozens of trade unionists and members of environmental groups, like the League of Conservation Voters, at a rally on the steps of City Hall to publicize the march. He predicted the demonstration would be the largest climate march in history.