20,000 people reportedly joined the Climate March in Brussels on Sunday, as confirmed by Belgian police. The central message emphasized the significance of even the smallest rise in
temperature.
Organized by the Climate Coalition, comprising 100 NGOs, labor unions, and citizen groups, this year's demonstration drew a slightly smaller crowd than in 2022. In the previous year, the march saw 30,000 participants, whereas in 2023, the organizers estimated 25,000 attendees, while police counted around 20,000 demonstrators.
The overarching theme, "Every tenth of a degree counts," stressed the critical importance of every incremental temperature rise in mitigating the far-reaching effects of global warming on human rights, energy sources, food production, biodiversity, and more.
Against the backdrop of the recent floods in West Flanders, Climate Coalition's vice-president, Zanna Vanrenterghem, highlighted the urgent need for world leaders to uphold their climate commitments during the UN Climate Summit COP28. Referring to the global impact of the climate crisis, she emphasized the necessity for stringent measures to mitigate its effects.
Meanwhile, at COP28 in Dubai, President Sultan Al Jaber's dismissal of calls to phase out fossil fuels was met with criticism. Scientists and experts rebutted his statement, with former IPCC vice-chair Jean-Pascal van Ypersele emphasizing the non-negotiable nature of scientific evidence.