Dozens of protesters marched down Jasper Avenue in downtown Edmonton Saturday afternoon in solidarity with other rallies being held across the globe to mark U.S. President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office and to demand more action on climate change.
“There’s lots of positive steps from governments and leaders around the world,” said Hannah Gelderman, co-organizer of the People’s Climate March and Rally in Edmonton. “There’s still things, for instance, like new fossil fuel infrastructure that’s being approved, there’s still indigenous communities that aren’t being listened to and aren’t being respected – so those are things that absolutely need to change and need to be worked on.”
READ MORE: Protesters march on Washington to protest Donald Trump’s environmental policies
About 100 people chanted slogans calling for more action on climate change while marching from Winston Churchill Square to the Alberta legislature.
View a photo gallery of the Edmonton rally below:
According to the rally’s organizers, 250 similar protests were planned around the world with the largest turnout expected in Washington, D.C.
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“More than 50 organizations are collaborating to organize the marches, which unite people fighting for climate, jobs and justice,” the Edmonton rally’s organizers said in a statement. “Together, these communities march under a banner of hope and resistance.”
“What I believe we need is a rapid transition to entirely renewables and so the faster that can happen, the better,” Gelderman said.
“(We want to) make our presence known so that people know there’s a strong push for solutions.”
Watch below: Large-scale climate change protests marked U.S. President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, which have been marked by environmental protections rollbacks climate policies.
While the Edmonton rally paid special attention to Alberta’s oilsands and energy sector, most marches around the world zeroed in on Trump and in particular, his proposal to cut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by almost one-third, which would also eliminate more than 3,000 jobs.
-with files from The Canadian Press
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