By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Youths across some countries on Friday have begun a global climate strike by protesters, which will hit more than 1,400 locations with a message that “change is coming – from the streets”.
The strike is the first such worldwide action since the coronavirus pandemic hit, and is taking place just weeks before the vital COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, UK.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said on Tuesday the world was “seemingly light years away from reaching our targets”.
The youth strikes, along with the increasingly severe impacts of extreme weather, have been credited with raising the profile of the climate emergency.
Luisa Neubauer, from Fridays For Future in Germany, said: “Change is going to come but it is going to come from the streets. We will make sure that this message is out there on the 24th.”
Vanessa Nakate, a youth striker from the Rise Up Movement in Uganda, said: “The $100bn is the first step to correcting climate injustice. It was like countries finally looked up and saw the suffering and devastation that was going on in countries like mine because of the climate crisis. The most disturbing thing about this, though, is that it has not been delivered.”
Meanwhile, Protesters in Mexico will assemble in front of the National Palace in Mexico City to demand that the state oil company Pemex presents a plan to decarbonise, while in Bangladesh activists will demand the scrapping of planned new coal and gas power stations. Demonstrations will also take place in 12 cities in South Africa, 64 towns and cities in Canada, at least 12 cities in Argentina, and in many other places.