“The main objective of the Global Climate March is to pressure the governments to start adopting renewable and non-polluting sources of energy. In September 2014, almost 7 Lakh people from across the world had participated in the march. This year, the main march was held at London,” said a statement released by the organising committee which includes prominent scientist Dr V S Vijayan, environmentalist C R Neelakantan and Dr A Latha of the River Research Centre.

“Until recently, 2015 had marked the highest temperature of all times. Even though several countries have started adopting measures to minimise the climate changes, we will have to wait a long time for the schemes to reach fruition. For this very reason, the entire world is looking eagerly to the climate summit at Paris. India has also put forth several schemes to minimise the impact of the climate fluctuations. Massive afforestation and resultant carbon sequestration is one of the eight schemes put forth by India in its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC),” said the organisers. The march also condemned the large-scale depletion of tropical forests in the name of development.

“The government is planning to destroy around 140 hectares of ecosystem, including evergreen riparian forests, for the proposed Athirappilly hydel scheme. For the last 25 years, the public outcry and the intervention of the judiciary had resulted in the project remaining in limbo. However, the MoEF green flagged the project once again in July. This will again result in a large-scale depletion of tropical forests,” environmentalists noted.