NEW YORK.— On Sunday September 21, some 600,000 people mobilized across various cities against climate change, with an historic march in New York which, according to organizers, saw 310,000 protesters take to the streets just before the UN Summit on the issue was due to start.

March in New York. Photo: AP.

Amidst music and giant flowers, Hollywood stars, politicians, activists and students gathered in Manhattan for the "People’s Climate March", the biggest ever according to the organizers.

They were joined in midtown Manhattan by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, former Vice President Al Gore and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

"This is an historic march. For us it is a chance to demonstrate to those governing us that the people affected are organized and mobilized across the world. They have to listen to us!" Juan Pedro Chang, a 57 year old Peruvian who travelled to the city from Paramonga, 220km north of Lima, told AFP.

Some 310,000 people took to the streets in New York, according to figures from the site www.peoplesclimate.org, which brings together the 1,572 organizations who called the march.

In total, there were 2,808 events across 166 countries, among which were simultaneous marches in London, Paris, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul and Bogota, with 580,000 people participating, including those in New York, according to organizers.

The protests were held in the run up to the UN Climate Summit to be held in New York, with the participation of over 120 world leaders. According to AP, the meeting aims to stimulate political will to negotiate a new climate treaty by the end of 2015.

Tens of thousands of people marched through London, with the participation of victims of floods across England last winter, as well as the British actress Emma Thompson, who returned from an expedition to the Artic with Greenpeace to denounce the melting of the icecaps.

In a family-friendly atmosphere, some 5,000 people protested in Paris, according to the police. "Before, we could say that we were unaware. Now, we know that (climate) change has begun," the Special Envoy of the French President for the Protection of the Planet, Nicolas Hulot, stated.

In Madrid, hundreds of protesters rallied outside the Ministry for the Environment with placards reading, "There is no planet B", "Change your life, not your climate" and "Our climate, it’s your decision".

In Cairns, Australia, where Finance Ministers are due to meet for the G-20, over 100 people marched wearing hearts made out of green paper around their necks. Some 5,000 people gathered in Rio de Janeiro and Bogota respectively.