This Sunday the largest climate march in history will take place in New York City, in hopes of pressuring major leaders to take more drastic and serious measures in combating climate change during the UN Summit meeting on Sept. 23.

About 100,000 people are expected to meet in Central Park West, moving downward to 34th Street. Students from about 300 colleges and universities are expected to attend, as well as approximately 1,000 organizations who have collaborated in support with the march, according to a Sept. 8 Think Progress article. New York City isn’t the only location this march will be taking place.  People from all over the world will be participating in the People’s Climate March, also referred to as the Global Day of Action, with various nationalities uniting in central locations such as London, Paris, Delhi and Rio.

It’s time to acknowledge that climate change is not only an issue that should concern environmentalists. Millennials should take an active role in this event because it concerns their futures.

Our generation grew up with the idea of climate change lingering in the back of our minds.  We watched Al Gore’s  “An Inconvenient Truth.” Some of us even fantasized of a possibly greener term had Gore been elected.  But claims that climate change was a hoax continued to pop up, while we kept the issue aside and thought about seemingly more important things.

We watched as leaders all over the world prioritized the economy, politics and wars before the environmental issue.  However, although the issue of climate change was pushed to the side, it wasn’t forgotten.  About 76 percent of millennials think that the government should do more when it comes to protecting the environment from being polluted, while 69 percent think the government should do a better job at addressing climate change, according to polls by the Harstad Strategic Research, Inc.

Every person who has the chance to be a part of the 100,000 marchers in NYC this weekend should not only consider going, but actually go.  This march is a perfect opportunity for our generation to take charge and tell our world leaders what kind of world we want to be living in in the future.  Do we want a world where we continue to exploit resources and pollute the environment, or one where we — finally — take appropriate and serious measures in trying to help save the environment?

Not only will climate change threaten the millennial generation, but it will threaten every single future generation to come. The past generation failed to acknowledge climate change as a real issue, but the important question is, after we’ve first-handedly seen the effects of climate change, will the future youths blame us for not responding accordingly?  With this in mind, despite your political beliefs, where you’re from, what race, gender or sexuality you associate with, climate change is a worldwide issue and definitely doesn’t discriminate.

People often claim that millennials only take part in online activism. The People’s Climate March is a chance for our generation to prove that those claims are wrong.

Tamara Rasamny is an international relations and newspaper & online journalism dual major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at twrasamn@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @Tam_Rasamny.

Published on September 17, 2014 at 12:08 am