May their cries, anger, fear and optimism be heard by all of us — especially those with the power to make laws and to make a difference.
Hundreds of thousands of students in more than 2,000 cities from Australia and Uganda to Germany and Italy left their classrooms on Friday, March 15, to take to the streets in peaceful marches protesting governments climate inaction. The young generations in 123 countries are demanding attention from politicians, international institutions and their elders literally to save the planet.
The worldwide «Youth Strike 4 Climate» spontaneous global activism by young students worried about the future, was inspired by the commitment and messages of a 16-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, Greta Thunberg, who recently made headlines for her action against climate change and, as a result, was nominated earlier this week for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In August 2018, she announced her decision to stop going to school on Fridays and instead to protest outside the Swedish parliament (Rikstag) to raise awareness on global warming and to press governments to pass legislation reducing carbon emissions, as agreed in the United Nations Paris Agreement signed in 2015 and now with 125 countries on board, to its pollution reduction goals.
Her urgent call and exemplary commitment have given her an international platform. She spoke to world leaders at the COP24 UN climate summit and at the World Economic Forum, where she told the audience: «I want you to panic.»
«Driven by an alarming lack of government leadership on climate action over previous decades,» as stated by the UK Youth Climate Coalition, the students of the world decided to follow Greta’s lead and strike on Friday. «We’re angry at the lack of government leadership on climate change,» they complained. «Those in power are not only betraying us, and taking away our future, but are responsible for the climate crisis that’s unfolding in horrendous ways around the world.»
To show their support, media outlets offered live coverage of the strikes as they grew around the world, devoting editorial attention to climate change. Academics and teachers organizations have also expressed their solidarity with the students’ urgent calls: » Should students be at schools?» asked a columnist. «No. This is the most important lesson of all.»
Among other things, the students are asking governments to declare «a climate emergency,» to organize campaigns to educate the public on the global warming crisis, to make changes at all levels of school curricula to include education about climate change and the environmental crisis we all face.
In Britain, students are asking to be included in decision-making on the subject and are calling for the voting age to be lowered to 16.
