Young climate strikers take protest to streets
Young activists from Stirling were among those who took to the streets across Scotland on Friday to demand more action on climate change.
Fridays for Future Scotland galvanised young people across the country, with locals gathering in Stirling’s Port Street on Friday afternoon to make their voices heard.
A similar protest also took place in Falkirk High Street in the morning.
Thousands are thought to have taken to the streets across Scotland to demand governments prioritise ‘People Not Profit’.
A spokesperson said: “We marched in solidarity with indigenous communities, workers and the hundreds of thousands of other young people around the world taking part in this global day of action.
“Thank you to everyone who joined us and all those who have supported us.”
Other Scottish locations included Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dumfries, Tobermory and Ullapool.
In Stirling activities included speeches, music, games and an art blocking stall where people could get climate messages painted onto their favourite t-shirts, hats or bags.
Fridays For Future Scotland is a group of young people under 25 who have been organising school, college and university strikes to protest climate inaction since January 2019. The movement began in August 2018 when Greta Thunberg refused to go to school, instead sitting outside the Swedish Parliament every Friday.
During COP26 in November 2021, more than 35,000 young people marched in Glasgow to demand climate justice, setting the tone for the next day when 100,000 people from all over the world would do the same.
The young activists say keeping up the global climate strike will keep the pressure up on politicians to take action “instead of making empty promises”.
More than 700 protests were organised globally, with eight taking place in Scotland alone.
A spokesperson for local organisers said: “COP26 failed us – not that we ever expected it to deliver. Across the globe, the planet burns while wealth and power grows yet more concentrated in the hands of the few. Decision-makers sit back, choosing to not to protect people and planet but to exacerbate the climate crisis.
“Young people all around the world are standing against this dereliction of duty.”
In September 2019 a climate change protest outside Stirling Council’s headquarters at Old Viewforth was attended by around 300 people - many of them school pupils.
The council later pledged to accelerate its own plans to reduce carbon emissions to zero as soon as practicable and asked senior managers to report back with actions for “real and sustainable progress”.
Young people all around the world are standing against this dereliction of duty Friday for Future Scotland