THE PLANET GOES ON STRIKE
From Australia to US, hundreds of thousands of protesters hold demonstrations calling for climate change awareness
PARIS: Vast crowds joined a global strike against climate change on Friday, heeding the rallying cry of teen activist Greta Thunberg and demanding adults act to stop environmental disaster. It was expected to be the biggest protest ever against the threat posed by climate change. Yelling slogans and waving placards, people across Asia and the Pacific kicked off the protest, which later spread to Africa and Europe
BYDNEY/BRUSSELS/BERLIN/STOCKHOLM ERLIN/LONDON: Hundreds of thousands of students and workers left their schools, colleges and offices on Friday and marched along city streets around the globe to demand that world leaders take urgent action to avert an environmental catastrophe.
The global climate strike, inspired by 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, kicked off in the Pacific islands and followed the rising sun across Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia and then on to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.
It will culminate in New York when Thunberg, who has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, will spearhead a rally at the United Nations headquarters, where heads of government are due to gather for a climate summit next week.
Protesters in about 150 countries are calling on governments to take immediate action to limit the harmful effects of manmade climate change. Social media posts showed scores of demonstrations, ranging from a few dozen primary school children in Abuja, Nigeria, to tens of thousands of people in cities from Hamburg, in Germany, to Melbourne, Australia.
Britain’s opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted that 100,000 people joined the demonstration in London.
UN URGED TO REDUCE ITS CLIMATE FOOTPRINT
Close to 2,000 UN staffers called for the global body to reduce its carbon footprint, including through curbs on their own diplomatic perks like business-class flights, in a letter to SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres. The body has a bigger carbon footprint than some member states.