Star-studded Global Citizen Festival reminds attendees of their power with million-dollar pledges

NEW YORK (AP) — Global Citizen surpassed its fundraising goals for Amazon rainforest protection, African energy access and community education at the antipoverty nonprofit’s annual music festival in New York’s Central Park, headlined by Shakira and late addition Cardi B.

Internationally recognized actors and foreign diplomats appealed to the crowd of more than 60,000 in between high-energy sets by artists from around the globe. Scheduled at the end of the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level meetings, the festival hammered home the message that everyday attendees, too, could influence the world leaders who gathered this week.

“This may seem quite ambitious on the surface. But I know for a fact that when we unite, we make noise that leads to real change. when you take action, governments and corporations listen, policies change, financial investments are made and progress happens,” host Hugh Jackman said at the top of the show.

Efforts to tap into the African continent’s high potential for renewable power got a boost. Global Citizen shared that they’d secured enough commitments to provide clean energy for 4.6 million homes on the continent. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU would provide more than $638 million to develop climate-friendly energy production. Energea, a renewable energy investment platform, pledged $250 million towards projects over next five years.

Nigerian singer Ayra Starr, who donned her reading glasses for a serious moment in an otherwise bouncing performance, shared that she grew up waiting until 6 p.m. for power to come on.

“But even I was lucky, OK? Some children in Africa have no access to light at all,” she said. “No child should be left in the dark. They need light to work, study, practice. They need light to reach their dreams and watch their favorite TV shows. That’s why energy matters.”

The program frequently paired celebrities and performers with issues close to their experiences. American soccer star Carli Lloyd helped announce the MetLife Foundation’s $9 million to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. Actresses Kristin Bell and Danai Gurira emphasized the need to end sexual violence in war.

Global Citizen also announced more than $280 million toward its goal of protecting the Amazon. That included a $100 million pledge from the Inter-American Development Bank toward its Amazonia Forever sustainable development program.

To underscore its importance, actress Liza Koshy and celebrity scientist Bill Nye asked the audience to hold their breath for a comedic bit about the Amazon being the “lungs of the Earth.” In the middle of Camilo’s set, the Colombian singer emphasized that it’s everyone’s responsibility — not just his country’s concern — to take care of the rainforest.

Infrequent references to the war in Gaza drew some of the crowd’s biggest cheers. Palestinian singer Elyanna, who opened the show, said she wanted “to pray for my homeland in Palestine.”

“So many countries, and so many people around the world are suffering. They don’t have their basic needs. And that’s what we’re all here for,” she said.

United Nations Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed took the stage after an exciting run of performances from South African singer Tyla, who performed her Grammy-winning song “Water,” Nigerian star Rema, who surprised the crowd with his global hit “Calm Down” and Rosé, whose acoustic set included the popular “APT.”

Mohammed emphasized that “what really matters is to give peace a chance” in Sudan, Gaza, Ukraine and “everywhere.” She told festivalgoers that “the world needs people like you.”

“It needs your energy to refuse to accept when people say that’s just how it is, your vision that sees solutions where others see dead ends and your voice that cuts through the noise demanding for everyone to do better and not accepting the globalization of indifference,” she said.

Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans said he wanted to show that, despite great feelings of hopelessness right now, progress is possible when people band together around common ideals.

“There’s been an erosion of the social contract that many people thought was a given. The basic principle that we help our neighbor, that we rebuild nations and that we lift up those who are less fortunate,” he told The Associated Press. “We need to restore that idea of service above self, of caring for our neighbor — both our neighbor locally and our neighbor globally.”

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