Climate change: Hundreds of young people start a world series of manifestations
Hundreds of students have begun the cycle of demonstrations in Wellington, about a thousand in more than 100 countries around the world today to demand that politicians take action against climate change.
[dropcap type=”background”]T[/dropcap]he “climate-school strike” erupted in the New Zealand capital with the students, who are supported by the Prime Minister, parading with posters, where slogans such as “Time is melting” and “Act now or swim. ”
This world-wide student strike culminates a series of weekly demonstrations initiated last year by the Swedish Greta Thunberg, 16 years old, who alone exhibited, every Friday, a poster with the words “Strike to the school by the climate” in front of the Parliament of Stockholm.
In Portugal, protests are expected in at least 26 cities, including Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Aveiro, Covilhã, Évora and Faro.
Today’s “world strike for the future” is planned “in 1,769 locations in 112 countries,” Thunberg wrote on the social network Twitter.
But the list made available on its website, FridaysforFuture, on the internet, already surpassed 2,000 sites, with Italy, France, and Germany at the top.
“We strike to tell our governments to do their homework and show us the evidence!” Read the text of the strike call posted on Facebook.
Students demand evidence that the world is taking the necessary steps to limit the average temperature rise to a maximum of 2 ° C in relation to the pre-industrial era, as provided for in the Paris Agreement.
“We are only at the beginning,” wrote the young woman on the social network Twitter, which has already been proposed for the Nobel Peace Prize 2019. “I believe that change is on the horizon and that the population will stand up for its future,” he said. the Swedish girl.
In New Zealand, the youth initiative was not to the delight of some teachers and politicians. Michael Williams, chairman of the high school board of trustees, estimated the consequence of the climate initiative would be “probably zero,” saying he feared that students would “waste time that should be devoted to good learning.”
However, the young demonstrators received the support of the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. “Do not underestimate the power of your voice,” the 38-year-old Labor told the students this week in parliament.
“Often, we say we have to be old enough to vote to be an influence. That’s not the case,” he said.
