Global climate strike

1. GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE SEP. 20–27
This week will be historic. In over 150 countries, people are stepping up to support young
climate strikers and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. The climate crisis won’t wait,
so neither will we.
Young people have woken up much of the world with their powerful Fridays For Future
school strikes for the climate. Now, millions of adults are joining in a huge wave of that will
kickstart renewed action all over the world. The urgency of the climate crisis requires a
new approach and a just response centered on human rights, equity, and justice. Follow
the actions and join the movement.
Greta Thunberg: teenager on a global
mission to ‘make a difference’
Swedish environment activist’s campaign began with solo climate protest
and drew 4 million to latest strikes
The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has become known globally for her
environmental campaign. In August 2018, aged 15, Thunberg began a solo climate protest
by striking from school. She has since been joined by tens of thousands of school and
university students in more than a dozen countries, in climate strikes that have become
regular events. A global strike in March drew more than a million people, surpassed in
September by the biggest yet with at least 4 million.
Thunberg has described the rapid spread of the strikes around the world as amazing. “It
proves you are never too small to make a difference,” she said. Her protests were inspired
by US students who staged walkouts to demand better gun controls in response to
multiple school shootings.
Veteran climate activists have expressed surprise at how much impact Thunberg has had
on public awareness in such a short time.
Thunberg has begun travelling to spread her message outside Sweden. Speaking at the
United Nations climate conference in December 2018, she berated world readers for
behaving like irresponsible children. And in January 2019 she rounded on the global
business elite in Davos: “Some people, some companies, some decision-makers in
particular, have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to continue
making unimaginable amounts of money. And I think many of you here today belong to
that group of people.”
In September 2019 she condemned world leaders in an emotional speech at the UN, telling
them: “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words.”