‘Empty promises’ Young activists march for future
TIt’s a lot of empty promises and people are pretending things are getting better when they’re not
RAFFIC was at a standstill on Friday as around 200 Bristol schoolchildren held a protest against climate change in the city centre.
The demonstration took over the road at College Green, marching towards the city centre, led by a percussion band.
The band was led by a group holding up the same banner used when teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg visited the city in February 2020, which reads “Skolstrejk för klimatet” (school strike for climate).
It was the first Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate since Ms Thunberg visited the city, when up to 30,000 people attended that protest.
There were speeches given ahead of the march at noon.
Chloe Naldrett, a parent from Bishopton, was one of the speakers, telling the young people in the crowd: “You should be living your lives. You shouldn’t have to be here and I’m so sorry that you are.
“I love you and respect all of you for standing up to your leaders.”
Monica Maggs, a 21-year-old Bristol Uni student, explained why she was at the protest.
She said: “Just to support climate change and do our part to support the message. It’s a lot of empty promises and people are pretending things are getting better when they’re not and no actual change is being done.”
Matt Lister, a 20-year-old BIM student, thinks there needs to be a “full system change”.
“We can’t save the planet when it’s the 1% who do all thee damage who are still in power and the people that make the rules support them.”
Monica Maggs
Barnaby Swonnell, 18, explained why he is marching: “It’s because our future is in the balance. If we don’t act now we won’t have a future.”
Janet Jones, a pensioner and Green Party member from Horfield, was at the march because the change that is happening is “too slow”.
“It’s their generation that are going to bear the brunt. It must feel to them that the adults in the aren’t listening,” she said.
“But standing in the background we can show that some of us are concerned.”
The organisers said in a statement ahead of the event: “The group are focusing on the themes of time is running out, highlighting how nothing has changed since the last strike in terms of climate action, and intersectional climate justice, and how it needs to be in the centre of any response to the climate and ecological crisis.
“BYS4C has held 10 strikes in
Bristol since February 2019, and has also recently joined protests against the expansion of Bristol Airport.”
The statement also includes a quote from 16-year-old Torin: “It is vital that we keep up the pressure on politicians, locally, nationally, and globally, to act on the climate and ecological crisis.
“Almost no progress has been made since we last went on strike in February 2020, so we are again fighting for our futures.
“We are still trying to stop airport expansion, still campaigning for clean air, and most importantly still fighting for social, racial, and climate justice across the world.”
Organisers asked protesters to take a lateral flow test before attending. They were also asked to wear a face mask (unless exempt) and to keep their distances. They tweeted: “Most Covid restrictions are gone but we still need to try and keep each other safe.”