(Reuters) World's Youth Take To The Streets Again To Battle Climate Change

Reuters - Kate Abnett

Summary Largest global climate protest since pandemic Strike takes place weeks before COP26 summit Hundreds of thousands protest in Germany alone, organisers say 'No political party is doing close to enough', Thunberg says

BRUSSELS - Young people around the world took to the streets on Friday to demand urgent action to avert disastrous climate change, in their largest protest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The strike takes place five weeks before the U.N. COP26 summit, which aims to secure more ambitious climate action from world leaders to drastically cut the greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet.

"The concentration of CO2 in the sky hasn't been this high for at least 3 million years," Swedish activist Greta Thunberg told a crowd of thousands of protesters in the German capital.

"It is clearer than ever that no political party is doing close to enough."

Demonstrations were planned in more than 1,500 locations by youth movement Fridays for Future, kicking off in Asia with small-scale demonstrations in the Philippines and Bangladesh, and spreading throughout the day to European cities including Warsaw, Turin and Berlin.

"Everyone is talking about making promises, but nobody keeps their promise. We want more action," said Farzana Faruk Jhumu, 22, a youth climate activist in Dhaka, Bangladesh. "We want the work, not just the promises."

A landmark U.N. climate science report in August warned that human activity has already locked in climate disruptions for decades - but that rapid, large-scale action to reduce emissions could still stave off some of the most destructive impacts. read more

So far, governments do not plan to cut emissions anywhere near fast enough to do that.

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg attends the Global Climate Strike of the movement Fridays for Future in Berlin, Germany, September 24, 2021. REUTERS/Christian Mang
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The United Nations said last week that countries' commitments would see global emissions increase to be 16% higher in 2030 than they were in 2010 - far off the 45% reduction by 2030 needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"We are here because we are saying a loud 'no' to what is happening in Poland," said Dominika Lasota, 19, a youth activist at a protest in Warsaw, Poland. "Our government has for years been blocking any sort of climate politics and ignores our demands for a safe future."

Friday's strike marked the in-person return of the youth climate protests that in 2019 drew more than six million people onto the streets, before the COVID-19 pandemic largely halted the mass gatherings and pushed much of the action online.

Yusuf Baluch, 17, a youth activist in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, said the return to in-person events was vital to force leaders to tackle the planetary crisis.

"Last time it was digital and nobody was paying attention to us," he said.

But with access to COVID-19 vaccines still highly uneven around the world, activists in some poorer countries said they would only hold symbolic actions with only a handful of people.

"In the global north, people are getting vaccinated so they might be out in huge quantities. But in the global south, we are still limited," Baluch said.>

The world's youth take to the streets in #FridaysForFuture protests to demand urgent action to avert climate change, in their largest protest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. More photos: https://t.co/xBTVe4Yz9D pic.twitter.com/QVVPWvqXrf

— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) September 24, 2021

Links

• (The Guardian) Young Global Climate Strikers Vow Change Is Coming – From The Streets
• (CA National Observer) Meet The Young Climate Leaders Helping To Set The COP26 Agenda
• A Year Of Resistance: How Youth Protests Shaped The Discussion On Climate Change
• Young people resume global climate strikes calling for urgent action
• Young climate activists call for EU to radically reform farming sector
• School climate strikers join Valentine's Day protests across world
• Hundreds of thousands of students join global climate strikes
• (AU ABC) School Strike 4 Climate: Thousands Of Young Australians Call For Urgent Action On Climate Change
• Greta Thunberg Effect: People Familiar With Young Climate Activist May Be More Likely To Act
• ‘Hypocrites And Greenwash’: Greta Thunberg Blasts Leaders Over Climate Crisis
• Another Two Years Lost To Climate Inaction, Says Greta Thunberg
• U.N. climate change report sounds 'code red for humanity'