High school pupils set for latest Global Climate Strike
The latest Global Climate Strike will see local protesters gather at 9am on Friday November 29, outside Lochaber High School, before marching to Cameron Square, writes Mark Entwistle.
Organisers are urging those planning to attend to bring placards and musical instruments.
Local climate crisis campaigner Holly Gillibrand says the event in Fort William has been organised by ordinary youngsters scared and angry about what the future might hold if climate change is not tackled more urgently.
'This is an event organised by ordinary teenagers from Lochaber High School who are scared, angry and frustrated at the inaction over climate and ecological breakdown,' she told the Lochaber Times this week.
'The strikes are not something where children just turn up to to skip school and then leave again. This involves hours of work after school and at the weekends, all the while juggling schoolwork, revision and extracurricular activities.
'The climate and ecological emergency is the biggest crisis humanity has ever faced and we need to take action now, not tomorrow, not in 10 years – now. That is why the youth are organising a global climate strike on November 29. We implore you to join us.'
Fellow teenage activist and pupil Lily Bloom added: 'I strike because I am concerned for the welfare of the natural world. I am worried for my future and our society. I am doing this because as a global movement, we are making a difference.'
And Andrew Squire, of the Fort William branch of Extinction Rebellion (XR) said he will 'wholeheartedly' be supporting the global school strike on November 29 as a mark of solidarity with those same young people, their peers, and future generations, who will bear the brunt of catastrophic climate change and ecological breakdown if humanity continues to wreck the biosphere.
'The worst impacts will undoubtedly be felt in the poorest and most vulnerable parts of the world, but nowhere will escape as ecosystems and food chains collapse and as floods, storms, wild fires and droughts happen more and more frequently, even in temperate places like Scotland,' he added.