'It's our time to rise up': youth climate strikes held in 100 countries // Kids march against against climate change in Hyderabad
From Australia to
America, children put down their books on Friday to march for change in the
first global climate strike. The event was embraced
in the developing nations of India and Uganda and in the Philippines and Nepal
– countries acutely impacted by climate change - as tens of thousands of
schoolchildren and students in more than 100 countries went on “strike”,
demanding the political elite urgently address what they say is a climate
emergency.
Videos of children marching against climate change
In Sydney, where about
30,000 children and young people marched from the Town Hall Square to Hyde
Park, university student Xander De Vries, 20, said: “It’s our time to rise up.
We don’t have a lot of time left; it’s us who have to make a change so I
thought it would be important to be here and show support to our generation.” Coordinated via social
media by volunteers in 125 countries and regions, the action spread across more
than 2,000 events under the banner of Fridays for Future.
As dusk fell in the
antipodes, the baton was passed to Asia, where small groups of Indian students
went on strike for the first time. In Delhi, more than
200 children walked out of classes to protest against inaction on tackling
climate change, and similar protests took place on a smaller scale in 30 towns
and cities. Vidit Baya, 17, who is in his last year at MDS public school in
Udaipur, said: “In India, no one talks about climate change. You don’t see it
on the news or in the papers or hear about it from government.
“This was our first
strike as a nation and there were young people taking strike action in many
cities. It is a fledgling movement but we are very happy with our action today.
We are trying to get people to be more aware of climate change and the need to
tackle it.” Across Africa, there
were strikes in several countries. In Uganda, Kampala international student
Hilda Nakabuye addressed striking students in the capital... read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/15/its-our-time-to-rise-up-youth-climate-strikes-held-in-100-countries