大象传媒

Climate strike: Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future strike returns on Friday

greta-thunberg.Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Teen activist Greta attended a climate protest outside the Swedish government in July

Greta Thunberg gained support all around the world after she started a movement encouraging children and young people to help her raise awareness about the impact of climate change.

Now, the 18-year-old activist says the Fridays for Future movement will be returning with another march on Friday 24 September to demand that world leaders take action on important climate issues.

It comes as global leaders including prime minister Boris Johnson gather together in New York to discuss what they need to do to tackle important environmental problems.

Physical Fridays for Future protests weren't able to go ahead for a while due to the pandemic. Friday's action will be a global strike taking place in locations around the world, with Greta expected to attend an event in Germany.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

The in-person Fridays for Future climate strike returns on 24 September

"It has been a very strange year and a half with this pandemic but of course the climate crisis has not disappeared, it's the opposite, it's even more urgent now than it was before," Greta said speaking ahead of the strike.

"We will go back on the streets now, of course it will look different, in some countries we will be more people, in some countries like Sweden we will have smaller symbolic actions. But we will still be back on the streets to show that we have not disappeared and we are still demanding climate action and climate justice.

"Time and time again, the leaders today show that they do not care about the future, at least it doesn't seem like it.

"They say that they listen to us young people, but they are obviously not. They have proven that now again. And that's why we will be back on the streets."

Media caption,

Climate change: Meet these kids from Malawi who are worried about climate change (2019)

Vanessa Nakate, who is a climate campaigner from Uganda, said Friday's protest would focus on climate justice, drawing attention to the issues facing countries which have contributed the least to global warming and which are seeing some of the biggest impacts, from droughts to floods and famine.

Referring to the COP26 conference which takes place in Glasgow this November, Nakate said "we expect that leaders are going to give talks, speeches and sweet nothings".

She says governments that have agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions should follow through and avoid building new coal-fired power plants or oil pipelines that rely on fossil fuels.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Vanessa Nakate (right) is a Ugandan climate activist

German activist Luisa Neubauer has also spoken out about the lack of action taken by her country to address climate issues.

"The real scandal of this election is that in the year 2021, in the midst of the escalating climate crisis, no single party dares to speak up about what needs to be done," she said according to AP news.

In addition to climate change, Friday's march aims to highlight a number of other important issues including racism, sexism and inequality.

Image source, Getty Images

"The climate crisis does not exist in a vacuum. Other socio-economic crises such as racism, sexism, ableism, class inequality, and more amplify the climate crisis and vice versa," a statement from the strike's organisers said.

"It is not just a single issue, our different struggles and liberations are connected and tied to each other.

"We are united in our fight for climate justice, but we must also acknowledge that we do not experience the same problems; nor do we experience them to the same extent."