TAORMINA, Italy, May 26 (Xinhua) -- Environmentalist non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are doing their part Friday to make sure climate change remains on the agenda at the ongoing Group of Seven (G7) summit in the Sicilian town of Taormina.
Greenpeace Italy positioned a four-meter high replica of the Statue of Liberty wearing an orange life jacket with the words reading "Climate Justice Now" on the beach at Giardini Naxos, a seaside resort nestling within view of the hilltop town of Taormina.
Activists from the environmentalist NGO floated just off the beach aboard eight canoes, holding up yellow signs that read "Planet Earth First" in large black letters.
That slogan is a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" campaign slogan.
The U.S. billionaire president has threatened to pull his country out of the 2016 Paris Agreement on curbing climate change signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama.
"Ask G7 leaders not to turn back the clock on the Paris Agreement," Greenpeace Italy tweeted along with photos of the seaside action.
U.S.-based civic organization Avaaz also said in a statement that renewable energies make sense on the economic and business level.
"In 2016, over 8.1 million people worldwide were employed by the renewable energy industry, a 5 percent increase over the previous year," the Avaaz statement said.
Solar energy "is now the same price or cheaper than fossil fuels in 30 countries," Avaaz said, citing a 2016 World Economic Forum report.
"The U.S. will shoot itself in the foot if it quits the Paris climate change accord, because China, India and Europe will snap up the best power sector jobs," according to Avaaz, which promotes global activism on a number of social and environmental issues.
