A tall ship carrying climate change banners sailed into Australia's Sydney Harbour on Saturday, launching a wave of protest across 95 countries organised by New York-based lobby group 350.org.
The protests have been timed to build climate change action awareness ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit, 350.org said, where political, business and entertainment leaders including the Hungary President Janos Ader, Ikea Group chief executive Jesper Brodin and actor Harrison Ford are scheduled to speak.
The summit, whose sponsors include Google, Facebook, the United Nations and Bloomberg Philanthropies, is planned for September 12 to 14 in California, less than 60 days before the US mid-term elections where climate is expected to be an issue.
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350.org is co-ordinating 850 events around the world, including around 50 in Australia. One of those events - 'Kick Coal out of Politics Rally' - was held in Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's electorate, where the protesters called for an increase in renewable energy.
"Today the Australian government has said they are thinking about pulling out of Paris, which means no action on climate change," said Blair Palese, chief executive officer of 350.org Australia.
"Today 350 and groups around the country - 50 events - are demanding climate action as part of something called Rise for Climate. We'll see events happening like it, all over the world."
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