Students around the world skipped school on Friday, 15th March to protest against the inaction and apathy of governments and organizations towards climate change. Right from New York to New Delhi, and Cape Town to Seoul, students were out on the streets calling for more action to mitigate climate change.
The young protestors believe that adults have been apathetic towards the climate crisis and these protests are their way of drawing attention to this grave issue. They have taken the onus of solving the greatest challenge in human history upon themselves. Their demands are simple – a sustainable world for all generations to come. The demands include a transition to clean energy and a halt in fossil fuel exploration among others.
According to the organizers of these strikes, there were over 2,000 protests in 125 nations across the world by over 1 million students who skipped school on Friday.
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These global strikes are part of a larger movement spearheaded by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager who has been skipping school each Friday since the fall of 2018 and protesting outside the parliament building in Stockholm in an attempt to force her country’s leaders to take action against climate change. Thunberg has also been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace this year.
#ClimateStrike, #SchoolStrike4Climate, and #FridaysForFuture were trending on Twitter with scores of pictures of protests across the world being put up.
Here are some pictures from the protests across the world.
Bravo #Montréal! Great turnout. #ClimateStrike #ClimateActionNow pic.twitter.com/Z53o2gy5bF
— Blane Harvey (@BlaneHarvey) March 15, 2019
Basically.#ClimateStrike #ClimateChange NYC City Hall pic.twitter.com/bJKFuInfoY
— Caroline Lewis (@clewisreports) March 15, 2019
Young climate change protesters are now blocking Westminster Bridge pic.twitter.com/YXOmMq6qdN
— EJ Ward (@EJWardNews) March 15, 2019
Singing off from an inspiring Friday afternoon. The future of this planet is in good hands #ClimateStrike#FridaysForFuture#SchoolStrike4Climate #MyRightToBreathe @greenpeaceindia @Jhatkaa @DelhiBreathe pic.twitter.com/J0sE0U9ZJG
— Brikesh (@Brikesh) March 15, 2019
Climate Strike demonstrations: a human river flooding Venice, Italy in the quest for Climate Justice!#ClimateStrike#FridaysForFuture#schoolstrike4climate@GretaThunberg @udu_sind @DiEM25_IT pic.twitter.com/OpJMMKCMPh
— Stefano Pravato (@stefanoprav) March 15, 2019
Looking great Auckland! #schoolstrike4climate pic.twitter.com/Dk8q8Pk5vx
— Gareth Hughes (@GarethMP) March 14, 2019
Isn’t this a truly wonderful movement that all of us should lend support to? Let’s act before it is too late!