As we all are aware climate change is happening; our world is getting more and more damaged every day. Our ice caps are melting, oceans are getting polluted, sea level is rising, and forests are burning. Despite warnings regarding climate change, unfortunately not much has been done over the past years by governments across the world to solve this grave issue. Despite the fact that majority of the countries have the means to combat climate change, more of their effort has been put into issues regarding international politics, trade and their economy.
As a result of climate change matters not being prioritised by most of the countries, many young activists all over the world decided to take matters in their own hand. They organised a global climate strike from 20th to 27th September 2019. In this past week the world witnessed one of the largest climate change strikes in world history. Schools and university students, large institutions and agencies took part in this historical strike. People from all over the world united to fight for this one cause – to save their future and the future of the generations to as well as demand their respective governments to take action regarding this grave issue.
The strike took place all over the world, from New Zealand, England, Canada, America to India Thailand and Kenya. It was reported that more than 100 countries with over 7 million protesters participated in over 6631 protests around the world- demanding the government to address climate change and call for a climate emergency. Posters and slogans reading ‘no one is too small to make a difference,’ ‘we could save the planet if children ran it,’ ‘get your act together and take action now’ were showcased in these protests.
In New Zealand, thousands of people protested on the streets. An open letter was signed by 11000 citizens demanding the government to declare a climate emergency. As a result of this mass protest, the Prime Minister of New Zealand set a goal of making the country carbon free by 2050. While in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined the protest alongside the large groups of young activists, promising to make sure they do more in helping fight climate change. In Kenya, thousands of people dressed in red, black or white protesting and demanding the government to take action. In India, many protesters conveyed their messages through unique street plays and rap battles attracting crowds of people.
Many brands and organisations also came out to support this youth led strike. Burger King, a popular fast food chain decided to remove all its plastic toys from its kid meal. Amazon, an online store also participated in the strike and committed to providing zero emissions by 2030. Many famous brands like Stella McCartney also participated in these strikes and even launched the ‘Today for Tomorrow Award’ which recognises people under the age of 25 years who have done something to help save the environment. The brand is said to give a donation on behalf of the winners to their preferred charity.
Greta Thunberg who was one of the leading faces for this strike called out world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly for not paying attention to the climate and emphasised on the fact that our ‘ecosystems are dying’ and the world is at the beginning of a ‘mass extinction’ and all politicians are doing is promising ‘empty words’ about what all they have done to save our climate. Her speech at the General Assembly was seen by all. It was a wake-up call not only to the world leaders but also us as people living in the world to do our duty towards saving the world and our future.
This week saw the entire world unite, despite having different cultures, backgrounds and ethnicities. There was only one thing being chanted around the world-save our planet. This week is a reminder for us as well to be cautious citizens of the world, care for our environment and hopefully save it before it is too late.