The students have a supporter in the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual head. He said the “younger generation should have serious concerns about the climate crisis and its effect on the environment”, adding they are very realistic about their future and we should encourage them.
— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) September 20, 2019
The protesters, who boycotted schools and colleges, demonstrated from India, the Pacific islands to Australia demanding their governments take urgent steps to tackle the climate crisis to prevent a catastrophe for future generations.
The 16-year-old Swedish girl Greta Thunberg, who is spearheading the global campaign to create awareness about the risks posed by climate change, was the rallying point for the protesters. Her video tweet “Fridays for future. The school strike continues!” has gone viral worldwide.
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) September 16, 2018
Thunberg also forwarded images of rallies across the world
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) September 20, 2019
— Andy Davies (@adavies4) September 20, 2019
— David Fopp (@DavidFopp) September 20, 2019
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) September 20, 2019
— Greenpeace EU (@GreenpeaceEU) September 20, 2019
The United Nations said global emissions are reaching record levels and show no sign of peaking. The last four years were the four hottest on record, and winter temperatures in the Arctic have risen by 3°C since 1990. Sea levels are rising, coral reefs are dying, and we are starting to see the life-threatening impact of climate change on health, through air pollution, heatwaves, and risks to food security.
The impacts of climate change are being felt everywhere and are having very real consequences on people’s lives. Climate change is disrupting national economies, costing us dearly today and even more tomorrow. But there is a growing recognition that affordable, scalable solutions are available now that will enable us all to leapfrog to cleaner, more resilient economies.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called upon leaders to come up with “concrete, realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020, in line with reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent over the next decade, and to net zero emissions by 2050”.
