A climate march will be held this Sunday in Brussels, organised by the citizen collective Rise for Climate.
Organisers expect between 500 and 1,000 participants, who will gather at 14:00 at Place de l’Albertine, near Brussels-Central station. The march has been organised ahead of the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, which opens on Monday.
Before the march, "three artists will perform a concert and speeches will be given," Co-founder of Rise for Climate Belgium, Kim Lê Quang, told Belga. It will start at 15:00 and head towards the European Parliament.
With this protest, the collective aims to denounce the choice of Azerbaijan as the host country for COP29. "The UN’s choice undermines the independence of COPs and promotes ‘greenwashing’ and fossil fuel lobbying," Lê Quang said.
The demonstrators will also raise their voices to demand "effective preventive and anticipatory measures and solidarity aid on a European and global scale," added Lê Quang. "Disasters like the one in Valencia, Spain occur, and governments intervene too late," he lamented.
Finally, the collective opposes the free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay), which could be finalised during the G20 summit on 18-19 November in Brazil. "MEP Saskia Bricmont and a representative from Espirito Mundo will speak on the matter."
Several organisations have publicly announced their support for the initiative, including Youth for Climate, Greenpeace Belgium, and Extinction Rebellion Belgium.
