The largest climate march in the history of mankind was held in New York on 21st September 2014. Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life and from different parts of the world converged in New York to draw global attention on the frightening impacts of climate change. Leaders from over 100 nations were also in the city with the sole purpose of discussing how to mitigate climate change and this march was civil society's way of drawing the attention of their leaders to take action.

It was therefore a huge privilege and the moment of a lifetime for me to attend and be a part of this historic march as the Founder of Green Hope UAE.

Our call was simple - Any developmental action plan must provide equal opportunities without any kind of gender bias. The same holds true for the Climate action plan. This plan must be specific to regions and take into account local challenges and biases with regards to women. This was our basic demand during the march.

With the global population crossing 7 billion, the earth's finite natural resources are under tremendous strain. Economic progress is being achieved at the cost of the climate and the environment while, paradoxically, the polarization between the global north and south continues to increase. The youth of today are aghast at the escalating rate of environmental degradation as a consequence of climate change and we are seriously concerned at the prospect of us, future generation, inheriting a barren planet that cannot sustain its inhabitants.

The time for half measures is over. We have been waiting since 1997 for global leaders to take concrete steps to curb emissions and reduce fossil fuel consumption. The world can no longer wait for the next conference to decide on how much emissions should reduce by. The post 2015 development agenda must move to nip the issue in the bud and move to renewable energy, fully and irrevocably. Through our actions during the march , we called upon all fellow advocates of climate justice to urge our leaders take this historical decision of shifting completely to renewable energy, today, if not for their own selves, then at least for the sake of their children so that future generations don't grow up wearing gas masks.

The time to act is now! Stop Climate change , before it changes you.