Worldwide young environmental activists demonstrated on Friday to claim urgent action against climate change, marching for the first time after the COVID-19 pandemic began.
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Led by Swede activist Greta Thunberg, demonstrators planned to march in over 3,000 locations, but most of the activities took place online due to pandemic precautionary measures. They posted pictures on social media and joined Zoom call to discuss climate action.
The protesters said they intended to remind politicians that the world climate crisis is still a significant issue while the world focuses on COVID-19. In Stockholm, the group Fridays for Future had a sit-in in parliament’s vicinity with signs reading “Stop Denying the Climate Is Dying.”
“We need to treat the climate crisis as a crisis. It is just as simple as that. The climate crisis has never once been treated as a crisis, and unless we treat it as a crisis, we won’t be able to, so-called, ‘solve’ it,” Thunberg said.
Back on the streets this Friday for Climate Justice.
About 10,000 people took to the streets in Berlin, according to police reports. The demonstrators sat nearby the Brandenburg Gate, where they shouted out: “Strikes in school, university and companies. That is our answer to your politics”. They maintained social distance and facemasks.
In Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, over 20 climate advocators gathered in a park wearing headpieces made of plastic bottles. On their side, Uganda activists condemned the discriminatory media discourse on climate change effects, highlighting some phenomena and undermining others.
“The world was so focused on the California fires. When California was burning, communities in Africa were flooding - but where was the attention?” said Kampala activists’ leader, Vanessa Nakate.