Youth activists protest to demand action on climate as big events open in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — Activists geared up Friday for protests around the world to demand action on climate change just as a pair of major weeklong climate events were getting underway in New York City.

The actions in Berlin, Brussels, Rio de Janeiro, New Delhi and many other cities were being organized by the youth-led group Fridays for Future, and included the group's New York chapter, which planned a march across the Brooklyn Bridge followed by a rally that organizers hoped would attract at least 1,000 people. More protests were planned Saturday and Sunday.

New York is hosting Climate Week NYC, an annual event that promotes climate action, at the same time the U.N. General Assembly takes up the issue on several fronts, including raising trillions of dollars to aid poorer countries suffering the most from climate change.

In Berlin, dozens of people took to the streets although in fewer numbers than in previous years. Activists held up signs saying “Save the Climate” and “Coal is Over!” as they watched a gig put on outside the German Chancellor's Office. Protesters in London held up letters spelling out “Pay up," calling for the country to pay more to adapt to climate change and transition away from fossil fuels.

The New York protest wants to take aim at “the pillars of fossil fuels” — companies that pollute, banks that fund them, and leaders who are failing on climate, said Helen Mancini, an organizer and a senior at the city's Stuyvesant High School.

Youth climate protests started in August 2018 when Greta Thunberg, then an unknown 15-year-old, left school to stage a sit-down strike outside of the Swedish parliament to demand climate action and end fossil fuel use.

In the six years since Thunberg founded what became Fridays for Future, global carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels has increased by about 2.15%, according to Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists who monitor carbon pollution. The growth of emissions has slowed compared to previous decades and experts anticipate peaking soon, which is a far cry from the 43% reduction needed to keep temperature increases to an agreed-upon limit.

Since 2019, carbon dioxide emissions from coal have increased by nearly 1 billion tons (900 million metric tons), while natural gas emissions have increased slightly and oil pollution has dropped a tiny amount, according to the International Energy Agency. That growth has been driven by China, India and developing nations.

But emissions from advanced or industrialized economies have been falling and in 2023 were the lowest in more than 50 years, according to the IEA. Coal emissions in rich countries are down to levels seen around the year 1900 and the United Kingdom next month is set to shutter its last coal plant.

In the past five years, clean energy sources have grown twice as fast as fossil fuels, with both solar and wind individually growing faster than fossil fuel-based electricity, according to the IEA.

Since Thunberg started her protest six years ago, Earth has warmed more than half a degree Fahrenheit (0.29 degrees Celsius) with last year setting a record for the hottest year and this year poised to break that mark, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European climate agency Copernicus.

Associated Press journalist David Keyton in Berlin contributed to this report.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

A demonstrator holds a placard reading "Politics - Climate - Change" during a Fridays for Future protest in Munich, Germany, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. (Felix Hörhager/dpa via AP)

Demonstrators walk across Munich's Königsplatz with a placard reading "Stop fossil subsidies" during Fridays for Future protest in Munich, Germany, Friday Sept. 20, 2024. (Felix Hörhager/dpa via AP)

Protestors show posters as they take part in a Global Climate Strike protest of the Fridays For Future' movement near the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Protestors show placards as they take part in a Global Climate Strike protest of the Fridays For Future' movement near the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

A demonstrator dressed in a Spiderman costume takes part in a march calling on the government to take stronger action to control fires in the country's Amazon region, in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

Demonstrators march calling on the government to take stronger action to control fires in the country's Amazon region, in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Guadalupe Pardo)

FILE - Environmental activist Greta Thunberg shouts slogans during the Oily Money Out protest outside the Intercontinental Hotel, in London, Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Environmental activists including Greta Thunberg, center left, marches with other demonstrators during the Oily Money Out protest at Canary Wharf, in London, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Climate activists attend a rally to end fossil fuels, in New York, Sept. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, File)

A man works on a painting as he takes part in a Global Climate Strike protest of the Fridays For Future movement near the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Protesters hold letters and shout during a global week of action for climate finance and a fossil free future protest in London, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024.(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A charred transformer from one of Ukraine’s badly damaged power plants has come to a square in Kyiv's city center — a stark reminder of the scale of destruction caused by Russian strikes on the country's energy system.

The massive blackened hulk juxtaposed with a Ferris wheel farther down Kontraktova Square — or Square of Contracts in honor of the place's mercantile past — also serves as a contrast between the peacetime that was and the harsh reality of war in Ukraine.

The exhibition by private energy company DTEK, a nongovernmental organization and Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy opened on Thursday with a message urging people to feel "the pain and despair over the destroyed equipment” that energy workers experience first hand.

The organizers said that while they realize the transformer creates a somber atmosphere, their intention was not to “get anyone down” but to raise awareness of how difficult it is to bring light back to the houses in Ukraine after every Russian attack.

The exhibit is to stay in Kyiv for the next two months — by then, Ukraine will inch closer to what will likely be another winter of war.

The government has warned residents to brace for their toughest winter yet since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022 as airstrikes against the country’s beleaguered energy infrastructure intensify.

Russia continues to hammer Ukraine’s energy generation capacity, leaving the country heavily reliant on its three functioning nuclear power stations and electricity imports from European Union countries.

According to Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko, there have been over 1,000 attacks targeting the country’s power grid.

“There is no place, no region, no type of energy infrastructure that has not been affected by these attacks,” he said in a statement.

Ukrainians, meanwhile, have to cope with frequent nationwide blackouts, enduring hours without electricity. The shortages have exacerbated war fatigue as there appears no end of the conflict in sight.

Dmytro Tiuzin, a 37-year-old IT specialist who lives near Kontraktova Square, said he came to see the transformer in person on Thursday after seeing images of the installation on social media.

“I am worrying about it," he said of the destruction of Ukraine's power system. "I work remotely and I am very dependent on the electricity and internet.”

In the months between March and August, Russia launched nine coordinated attacks against electricity infrastructure in Ukraine, destroying approximately 9 gigawatts of electricity generation capacity, according to a U.N. report on Thursday.

The amount represents half of Ukraine’s energy needs during the winter months, the report by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission said.

“This winter will be bad enough with people likely having to cope with scheduled blackouts across the country,” said Danielle Bell, head of the mission. “Any additional attacks leading to prolonged electricity blackouts could have catastrophic consequences.”

Rebuilding the damage caused may take years. The Kyiv School of Economics in an assessment published in May estimated that restoring the energy sector will require $50 billion.

“This project is not meant to ... make people feel depressed about how bad things are,” said Katya Taylor from the Port of Culture, an NGO that curated the exhibition.

“But rather, just to thank those people who are there for us," she added.

Serhii, a worker from the power plant where the transformer was brought from, said he had spent 32 years of his life working there. The name of the power plant and Serhii’s family name could not be disclosed under government regulations due to security concerns.

“Sometimes tears come to my eyes, seeing this,” he said.

The destruction he witnessed also makes him angry and determined not to give up, “no matter what.”

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

People take photos of a burnt transformer from one of power plants badly damaged in one of Russia's recent missile attacks on energy system in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

People look at a burnt transformer from one of power plants badly damaged in one of Russia's recent missile attacks on energy system in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

People look at a burnt transformer from one of power plants badly damaged in one of Russia's recent missile attacks on energy system in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A man passes by a burnt transformer from one of power plants badly damaged in one of Russia's recent missile attacks on energy system in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)