Just before the opening of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), tens of thousands of climate activists walked the streets of New York to urge for increased action against climate change, as they held signs reading "Biden, end fossil fuels," "Fossil fuels are killing us" and "I didn't vote for fires and floods".

"We are here to demand that the administration declare a climate emergency," said Analilia Mejia, director of the activist group Center for Popular Democracy, to AFP adding: "We must wake up and take immediate action".

Released this month, a UN climate report designated 2025 as the deadline for global greenhouse gas emissions to reach the peak and to be followed by a plunge afterward - to remain in conformity with the 2015 Paris Agreement. 

Even though the Agreement helped surge climate action, the report states "much more is needed now on all fronts" to underpin an upcoming significant climate summit in Dubai at the end of this year.

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However, reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, which is part of the Agreement, will also call to phase out the burning of all fossil fuels which emissions can neither be captured nor compensated.

Mejia continued to refer to the fires in Canada, Hawaii, and Greece and flooding in Libya to show an example of the "existential crisis" posed by climate change.  

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Activist Nalleli Cobo expressed to AFP her desire to see political leaders "come to my house" in California and "spend the night living next to an oil and gas well."  

Having previously worked with Sweden's Greta Thunberg on climate campaigns, Cobo calls the "toxic air" she has been exposed to at her home as the reason for ovarian cancer she contracted at 19. "Our lives are on the line".

'History will remember'

Some young activists believe that US President Joe Biden has not acted correctly and quickly to lessen the country's dependence on fossil fuels.

According to top world scientists, the world will witness a new record of heat in the next five years, and global temperatures are more likely than not to surpass the critical threshold of an average 1.5-degree Celcius rise.

This comes after the state of California filed a lawsuit on Friday against five global oil firms, on the alleged basis of causing billions of dollars in damages and misinforming the public by minimizing the risks from fossil fuels.  

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In light of these events, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres scheduled a Climate Ambition summit for Wednesday to take place during the UNGA, hoping to catalyze work to counter climate change by governments in addition to private sector organizations and financial institutions.  

"History will remember their action or inaction," Mejia noted, adding: "And if we're lucky, human beings will be around to remember what (world leaders) did in this summit."