European kids skip school to demand climate action
LONDON: Thousands of students streamed out of schools across Europe on Friday, waving placards and carrying banners as they marched as part of a coordinated walkout to demand action on climate change.
Students in the capital here chanted “Save our planet!”as they gathered in Parliament Square, where they brought traffic to a standstill. Others held signs that read, “Change the politics not the climate”.
In Paris, about 200 students gathered outside the Ecology Ministry, saying they hoped to repeat the protest every week until their demands were heard.
Similar protests have been steadily gaining momentum since emerging in Sweden last year.
Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old activist, has been cutting class weekly since September to stage sit-ins at the Swedish Parliament demanding government action on climate change.
Last month, she was in Davos, Switzerland, to bring her message to the World Economic Forum. Inspired by her, a movement known as Youth Strike 4 Climate was founded in Britain and has since grown rapidly.
On Friday, demonstrations were held in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and elsewhere.
While some politicians rallied in support of the students, others, including Prime Minister Theresa May, were sceptical.
A spokesman for May said: “Everybody wants young people to be engaged in the issues that affect them most so that we can build a brighter future. But it is important to emphasise that disruption increases teachers’ workloads and wastes lesson time.”
The prime minister’s reaction was criticised by some, including Thunberg.
“British PM says that the children on school strike are ‘wasting lesson time’. That may well be the case,” Thunberg tweeted.
“But then again, political leaders have wasted 30 years of inaction. And that is slightly worse.”