NEW YORK — Hundreds of environmentalists plan to “shut down” the New York Stock Exchange later Tuesday to protest the relationship between global warming and Big Business.
Scores of protesters had already gathered in lower Manhattan early Tuesday for an event dubbed #FloodWallStreet. They planned to march a few blocks north to Wall Street and stage a “sit-in” until forced to leave.
Their beef: the fossil fuels industry and other companies are profiting at the expense of the environment. The activists said they were willing to be arrested to drive home the link between global capitalism and worsening climate change.
“The climate crisis is fundamentally an issue of the economy,” one activist told CNN. “Flood Wall Street is an attempt to bring the problem to the doorstep of the people who are fundamentally responsible for the crisis we find ourselves in now.”
Organizers, who have not obtained permits, expect participants to be “arrested in droves.” Blue-clad protesters plan to unfurl a 300-foot banner and will inflate a 15-foot “carbon bubble,” according to a statement on the #FloodWallStreet website.
The New York Police Department said it would have “an adequate detail in place” to respond.
Tuesday’s demonstration comes one day after tens of thousands of people took part in the People’s Climate March in New York City, which organizers said was the largest demonstration of its kind ever.
In addition to environmentalists, the marchers on Monday included labor activists and clergy, as well as celebrities and politicians.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon walked with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore along the two-and-a-half mile route. Celebrity protesters included comedian Chris Rock, as well as actors Leonard DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo.
Rallies were also held in London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and Bogota, Colombia.
Protesters are calling on world leaders to take more aggressive action to curb the emissions of greenhouse gasses.
Global leaders will gather Tuesday in New York for a United Nations summit on climate change. The UN is not expected to take any major steps, but officials are hoping to create momentum for a bigger commitment next year.
