Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on Wednesday said that campaigners must avoid mass rallies amid the escalation of coronavirus cases around the world. Instead, "digital strikes" would be the way forward during the crisis, she said on Twitter.
<p>"We young people are the least affected by this virus but it's essential that we act in solidarity with the most vulnerable and that we act in the best interest of our common society," Thunberg said on Twitter, where she has over four million followers.</p>
<p>In a series of tweets, the 17-year-old urged fellow climate campaigners to follow the advice of experts in an attempt to "flatten the curve." This means to lower the rate of infection by taking countermeasures in the early phase after an outbreak.</p>
<div id="01389" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9OII8F1584022031"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1237711121445982212" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We can’t solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis and we must unite behind experts and science.
This of cours… https://t.co/DdK03MXSQk</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1237711121445982212">1583928301.0</a></blockquote></div><p>As she urged her followers to avoid large gathers and "listen to local authorities", she also said that the "Fridays for Future" movement will start organizing online campaigns and strikes till the time the pandemic is not under control.</p><p>"So keep your numbers low but your spirits high and let's take one week at the time," Thunberg said, as she called on more people to join the "#DigitalStrike" by posting pictures of themselves with a sign on Fridays.</p><p>The world is struggling to contain the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2, with the number of people infected increasing by the day, especially in China, South Korea, Iran and Italy. The U.S. has <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-latest-germany-reports-fourth-death-from-covid-19/a-52731894" target="_blank">restricted the entry</a> of all foreign nationals who have traveled to Europe's Schengen countries.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/greta-thunberg-calls-for-digital-strikes-amid-coronavirus-fears/a-52732530?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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60,000-Strong Fridays for Future Protest in Hamburg, Germany Prompts Question: 'Where Are You, USA?'
24 February
Politics
Participants of the climate demonstration Fridays for Future walk through Hamburg, Germany on Feb. 21, 2020. Axel Heimken / picture alliance via Getty Images
By Andrea Germanos
U.S.-based youth climate activists on Friday drew attention to the climate protest in Hamburg, Germany, where organizers said roughly 60,000 people took part, and hoped that Americans took inspiration from their European counterparts.
<p>Among those taking part in the large Fridays for Future action in the northern German city was school strike for climate founder <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greta-thunberg">Greta Thunberg</a> of Sweden.</p><p>Fridays for Future organizer Alexandria Villaseñor of New York City shared Thunberg's tweet showing the massive crowd and asked, "Where are you USA?"</p>
<div id="16a22" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="N2R9QN1582563914"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230916162684194816" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Where are you USA😭 https://t.co/TM54wYpZLc</div> — Alexandria Villaseñor (@Alexandria Villaseñor)<a href="https://twitter.com/AlexandriaV2005/statuses/1230916162684194816">1582308257.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"The United States needs these types of numbers on a regular basis," <a href="https://twitter.com/JeromeFosterII/status/1230916727866830850" target="_blank">said</a> Jerome Foster II, a high school senior and Fridays for Future organizer in Washington, DC.</p><p>"What is it going to take for the U.S. to rise up like this?" <a href="https://twitter.com/XrDurham/status/1230887541043318784" target="_blank">wondered</a> the Durham, N.C. branch of Extinction Rebellion. "We are in a climate catastrophe and people around the world, particularly in the global south are facing the brunt NOW! January 2020 was the warmest since we've recorded temperatures."</p><p>Thunberg, who's in her 79th week of Fridays for Future actions, noted in her remarks to the Hamburg crowd that the weekly actions have spread globally.</p><p>"For almost one and half years young people have been striking from school all over the world," she said.</p><p>"The world is failing on ensuring us a future. And I honestly don't understand how the people in power can continue like now. How they can look their children in the eyes while they are stealing their future?" she asked.</p><p>"We are facing an existential crisis," said Thunberg, "but we must keep on pushing."</p><p>While the Hamburg march drew attention for its size Friday, other youth-led climate actions took place in communities across the globe, which many documented on social media:</p>
<div id="ee4ce" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5BGGM11582563914"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230786676793970691" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The youth of Kenema have joined us to fight for the climate. They are adding adding their voices in demand for urge… https://t.co/Jm3LqD3qHf</div> — Fridays For Future - Sierra Leone (@Fridays For Future - Sierra Leone)<a href="https://twitter.com/FFF_SierraLeone/statuses/1230786676793970691">1582277385.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="0f829" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="FYEVGC1582563914"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230863438848692229" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Week 6 of the climate boycott! We sat through the blazing heat and the lightening today. But no big change happened… https://t.co/3JdkOJcQl0</div> — Rae (of Sunshine) (@Rae (of Sunshine))<a href="https://twitter.com/raeesahnm/statuses/1230863438848692229">1582295686.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="9e125" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1QBZDJ1582563915"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230812678702161921" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Danish activists marching to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand #ClimateAction now. Denmark needs to get a g… https://t.co/Roh0DANml5</div> — SussiLillelund (@SussiLillelund)<a href="https://twitter.com/SussiLillelund/statuses/1230812678702161921">1582283584.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="e165a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="F0XFFH1582563915"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230923475742810112" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">It's our responsibility
#FridaysForFuture
#ClimateCrisis deepens poverty
Threaten food and water supply
Makes peop… https://t.co/Iwgnvekqq4</div> — Patricia Kombo (@Patricia Kombo)<a href="https://twitter.com/patriciakombo/statuses/1230923475742810112">1582310000.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Villaseñor, in a Friday tweet sharing the climate action she spearheaded in New York, underscored her steadfastness in her demand for urgent and bold action to tackle the ecological crisis.</p><p>"It's cold, we're tired, and we're not stopping," she wrote.</p>
<div id="fa221" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="S9BAE71582563915"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1230948331544662016" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">WEEK 63 #ClimateStrike at the @UN - and then at NYC City Hall! Today I was joined by @MarielS1115 from… https://t.co/63faFXsIjG</div> — Alexandria Villaseñor (@Alexandria Villaseñor)<a href="https://twitter.com/AlexandriaV2005/statuses/1230948331544662016">1582315926.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/21/60000-strong-fridays-future-protest-hamburg-germany-prompts-question-where-are-you?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Fridays for Future Movement Urges Greater Global Focus on Africa's Climate Champions
01 February
Climate
Swedish climate activists Greta Thunberg (R) and Ell Ottosson Jarl sit in front of a screen displaying Vanessa Nakate from the Fridays For Future movement in Uganda as they give a press conference during a meeting with climate activists and experts from Africa focusing on key environmental threatening of the continent, on Jan. 31 in Stockholm. PONTUS LUNDAHL / TT News Agency / AFP / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
The Fridays for Future movement held a press conference Friday focused on the need for the world to better recognize the amazing climate activism taking place in Africa — a continent that is already enduring severe impacts of global heating in spite of its limited contributions to creating the crisis.
<p>Climate activists and experts joined the event via video, including Vanessa Nakate of Fridays for Future Uganda, who <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ikrd/vanessa-nakate-greta-thunberg-davos" target="_blank">was cropped out</a> of an Associated Press photo with four white school strikers while <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/24/we-have-so-much-more-do-youth-climate-activists-declare-global-elite-close-out-davos" target="_blank">attending</a> the World Economic Forum's summit in Davos, Switzerland last week. The incident put a spotlight on the erasure of Africans in conversations and reporting about the climate emergency.</p><p>Joining Nakate for the live-streamed conference were movement founder Greta Thunberg of Sweden; Fridays for Future activists Ell Ottosson Jarl of Sweden, Makenna Muigai of Kenya, and Ayakha Melithafa of South Africa; and Ndoni Mcunu, a climate scientist at the Global Change Institute at University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9f9bbb823dcc0bff315bf4620fb57a50"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/FridaysForFuture.org/videos/2250738001887650/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>In a Facebook post about the press conference, Fridays for Future International <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FridaysForFuture.org/videos/2250738001887650/" target="_blank">said</a> that following the photo incident, which the AP called a "<a href="https://apnews.com/6a853a81f34164ab85713e68a889976d" target="_blank">terrible mistake</a>" and apologized for, "The media must report fairly and justly on the climate crisis throughout the world."</p><p>Not only do journalists and news outlets often lack African voices in climate coverage, they also fail to report on how global heating is impacting the continent. A new CARE International analysis that Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/28/largely-driven-climate-crisis-9-out-10-least-reported-humanitarian-crises-2019-were" target="_blank">reported</a> on this week found that nine of the 10 most under-reported humanitarian crises in the world last year were in Africa, and many of those crises were climate-related.</p><p>Nakate, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ikrd/vanessa-nakate-cropped-photo-climate-crisis" target="_blank">according to</a> BuzzFeed, now sees the photo incident at Davos as an opportunity to make climate discussions, including in the media, more inclusive:</p><blockquote>"After the picture and everything that happened, I received quite a number of messages and support from different parts of the world," she said.<br>"It's been my encouragement, motivation, and source of energy to move on—to keep demanding for climate action, and keep doing the climate strikes and everything that we've been doing for climate activism.<br>"I believe that after this incident and all that's happened, there's going to be a change in how the media reports the issues of climate change," Nakate said. "I believe that the media will start to cover stories from different parts of the world, because I believe that each country has an activist, and every activist has a story to tell, a solution to give."<br></blockquote><p>Thunberg, who was in the photo at Davos and <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1220736865877270529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeednews.com%2Farticle%2Fikrd%2Fvanessa-nakate-greta-thunberg-davos" target="_blank">expressed</a> support for Nakate after she was excluded from it, said Friday that "the African perspective is always so under-reported" and with the press conference, she hoped to use her platform to direct some focus to activists on the continent.<br></p><p>"I'm not the reason why we're here," she said. The 17-year-old Swede acknowledged that her climate activism often garners global headlines, while the actions of others in the movement — particularly those from the global south — don't receive the same level of attention. As Thunberg put it: "We are fighting for the exact same cause."</p><p>Nakate said during the press conference that "African activists are doing so much ... and it gets so frustrating when no one really cares about them."</p><p>"Every individual is needed in the fight against the climate crisis," added the 23-year-old. "Because climate change is not specific about the kinds of people it affects. It affects everyone, so it's up to all of us to rise up and speak up, because when we do, we'll be able to get the change and the action that we need."</p><p>With a nod to the massive youth-led movement that saw millions of people<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/27/over-6-million-people-worldwide-climate-strikes-largest-coordinated-global-uprising" target="_blank"> take to the streets</a> to demand ambitious climate policies over the past year, she declared: "If 2019 was the year of creating awareness, then let's make 2020 the year of action."</p><p>Muigai, who is from Nairobi, pointed out that "Africa at large is being affected by the negative impacts of climate change ... A great example of the impacts of this is the locust infestation in East Africa, which will soon lead to food insecurity."</p><p>As Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/28/climate-crisis-fueled-locust-swarms-pose-unprecedented-threat-food-security-and" target="_blank">reported</a> this week, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization recently warned that the locust swarms pose "an unprecedented threat to food security and livelihoods in the Horn of Africa."</p><p>The region's worst locust outbreak in decades is partly fueled by the climate crisis. Muigai said that due to lack of quality education, some people in less developed countries don't fully understand climate issues.</p><p>The African continent, Muigai noted, is also dealing with issues like deforestation and bad energy policies that contribute to global heating. She said that "all of us, at the end of the day, will be affected by climate change."</p><p>Melithafa explained that in South Africa, where severe drought has hit crops and water supplies, people are living though climate impacts each day. Highlighting how wealth inequality factors into climate issues, Melithafa said that as the rich dig private wells, poorer residents "already struggling to make ends meet, just to get a decent meal at the end of the day," also have to buy drinking water.</p><p>Mcunu, the climate scientist, pointed to the difficulties of responding to extreme weather events, scarcity of food and clean water, and electricity demands as key issues the continent is grappling with related to the climate crisis.</p><p>"How is it that we are not being spotlighted in stories or being told in these stories?" Mcunu said. "That's the main challenge we have as a continent."</p><p>"It is said that Africa only contributes to approximately 5% of the [global greenhouse gas] emissions, yet we are the most impacted," she added. She noted efforts to raise awareness worldwide about African knowledge and adaption initiatives as well as the necessity of working with scientists on the continent to gather accurate data.</p><p>Mcunu emphasized the importance of international cooperation to not only adapt to the impacts of climate change but also prevent further global heating, particularly by decarbonizing economies.</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/31/fridays-future-movement-urges-greater-global-focus-africas-climate-champions" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </em><em></em></p>
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More than 7.6 million people joined a climate strike during September's week of global action, making the week of strikes one of the biggest protests in world history.
<p>Now, it turns out the that movement is big enough to change the English language. Collins Dictionary has chosen "climate strike" as its <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/woty" target="_blank">Word of the Year 2019</a>.</p>
<div id="ba87d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6HTG9H1576662538"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1192352287949086721" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING NEWS The Collins Word of the Year is… climate strike. See the full shortlist and find out more about the… https://t.co/q8Cb18QGDF</div> — Collins Dictionary (@Collins Dictionary)<a href="https://twitter.com/CollinsDict/statuses/1192352287949086721">1573113912.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Collins defines "climate strike" as <em>"</em>a form of protest in which people absent themselves from education or work in order to join demonstrations demanding action to counter <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate change</a>," <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/word-of-the-year-collins-dictionary-names-climate-strike-word-of-the-year-for-2019/" target="_blank">CBS News reported</a>.</p><p>The dictionary first registered the word in 2015, when it was first used to describe protests coinciding with the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris. But its usage spiked this year with the rise of the global movement inspired by Swedish teenager <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greta-thunberg" target="_self">Greta Thunberg</a>. Collins said its usage increased by 100 times in 2019.</p>
<div id="f5ad2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="BW8P1H1576662538"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1192640878109700096" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Climate strike is named 2019 word of the year! #climatestrike https://t.co/REoCBwgjjN</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1192640878109700096">1573182718.0</a></blockquote></div><p><br>"Climate strikes can often divide opinion, but they have been inescapable this last year and have even driven a former word of the year – Brexit – from the top of the news agenda, if only for a short time," Collins' language content consultant Helen Newstead <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/07/climate-strike-named-2019-word-of-the-year-by-collins-dictionary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told The Guardian</a>. Brexit was the word of the year in 2016, according to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50327046" target="_blank">BBC News</a>.</p><p>The word of the year is chosen from a shortlist of 10 new terms that Collins lexicographers notice proliferating in newspapers or online, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/50328797" target="_blank">BBC Newsround explained</a>.</p><p>This is the second year in a row that the final pick has reflected environmental concerns. 2018's word of the year was "<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/collins-dictionary-word-of-year-2618536251.html" target="_self">single-use</a>," referring to often-<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">plastic</a> products that are designed to be used once and then thrown away, where they can end up in the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans" target="_self">ocean</a> and threaten <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life" target="_self">marine life</a>.</p><p>Both "climate strike" and "single-use" have seen a four-fold increase since 2013, as news stories and programs like BBC's Blue Planet II have raised awareness of the multiple crises facing Earth's ecosystems, the dictionary said.</p><p>"Climate strike" wasn't the only environmental word on the 2019 shortlist. Another contender was "rewilding," defined as "the practice of returning areas of land to a wild state, including the reintroduction of animal species that are no longer naturally found there."</p>
<div id="41581" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="U5DB7I1576662538"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1192426741781991424" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Rewilding is on our list of words of the year! Click here to see the full list: https://t.co/zOdBb0Iw4B… https://t.co/jCOGnamDqi</div> — Collins Dictionary (@Collins Dictionary)<a href="https://twitter.com/CollinsDict/statuses/1192426741781991424">1573131664.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Some consider rewilding as one solution to the climate crisis, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/07/europe/collins-dictionary-word-year-climate-scli-intl-gbr/index.html" target="_blank">CNN pointed out</a>. One group <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/21/europe/uk-nature-rewilding-britain-scn-intl/index.html" target="_blank">has argued</a> that returning a quarter of the UK to nature could draw down 47 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere each year. </p><p>The other words on the <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/word-lovers-blog/new/collins-word-of-the-year-2019-shortlist,580,HCB.html" target="_blank">2019 shortlist</a> were bopo, a body positivity movement; cancel, for ceasing to acknowledge someone publicly as a form of censure; deepfake, a false image or video that appears unedited or the act of making one; double down, to increase one's commitment despite opposition; entryist, someone who joins a political party to change it; hopepunk, an artistic and literary movement that promotes positive action despite difficult circumstances; influencer, someone who uses social media to promote brands or lifestyles; and nonbinary, for a gender or sexual identity that refuses the binary categories of male or female, homosexual or heterosexual.</p>
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Osmanthus tree planting base in Guilin, China. BIHAIBO / E+ / Getty Images
Howey Ou strode across the flower market of her home city of Guilin on a hazy October afternoon. But she had no consideration for the rhododendrons, anemones and bougainvilleas the shopkeepers had lined up along the market aisles. She was headed to a small stand at the very end of the market where she picked six scrawny osmanthus seedlings.
<p>The osmanthus flower is praised in China for its scent, it is brewed into a fragrant tea or added as a flavor to rice wine. Poets have sung its praise. But these aren't the characteristics that interest Howey. A professor had explained to her that the osmanthus is effective in absorbing carbon dioxide. Howey is China's first climate striker and has not been to school for four months. But several times a week she buys seedlings and plants them in the surrounding area. "Protesting needs a lot of courage in China," she said, "But <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/planting-1-trillion-trees-could-stop-climate-change-argues-study/a-49478494" target="_blank">planting trees is something we can do.</a>"</p><p>China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases. Environmental scandals are rampant and its cities are notorious for their smog. Yet when millions of young people around the world took to the streets to demand action from their governments on climate change, nothing of the like happened in China.</p>
Anxiety About the Climate
<p>Howey learned from a newsletter about the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/greta-thunberg-to-un-youve-stolen-my-childhood-with-your-empty-words/a-50550787" target="_blank">Fridays for Future movement and Greta Thunberg</a>, the Swedish teenager who started the worldwide protest by sitting each Friday on the steps of the Swedish parliament. Like Thunberg, Howey is 16 years old; she became aware of environmental issues one year ago when she came across an issue of the American magazine <em>National Geographic </em>in the local library. An article about plastic waste in the sea left her deeply troubled.</p><p>"I would feel anxiety every time I thought about what was happening," she said. "At the worst times this would happen to me every 10 minutes, I could not focus on anything anymore."</p><p>Since then she has worked to learn as much as she could about environmental issues.</p><p>By March 2019, students in more than 100 countries had joined the protests.</p><p>"When I saw that not one student in China had participated, I became very disappointed," she said, adding that she decided to be the first Chinese youth to go on climate strike. "I felt I could make this movement happen in China."</p><p>Two months later, she posted a picture of herself standing in front of the city government offices with a cardboard sign: "We need you to join. It was a message her fellow students read. She stood there for seven days. Then the police took her away.</p><p>Environmental protests are not uncommon in China. In July, thousands rallied against a planned waste incinerator in the city of Wuhan in central China. After days of protests that eventually led to clashes with the police, the government dropped the plan. In 2016, residents in the eastern Chinese city of Longtou forced their government to halt plans to build a petrochemical plant — although recent news suggests the construction had been resumed. Similar protests happened in the southwestern city of Kunming and in Shanghai. But these incidents were local protests targeting a specific project feared to harm resident's health. Demanding changes to the country's climate policy is taboo in China.</p>
Brushing Away Parents' Worries
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA1MDE3My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjEwMjc2NH0.jfmWuznsUerAJ-GdBfHbo-_GPlSjcmMilJt5d7TpUOA/img.jpg?width=980" id="f9906" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="66ec4c9290281fa2bbd95d5d012cdcd1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />Howey said her parents fear she is throwing away her future.
<p>Howey was taken into a police station and was lectured to about why her protest was illegal. They contacted her parents and told her to stop taking to the street. Fearing for consequences, she did not appear at the government gates again. "I am not that courageous," she said. But she said she also felt she could not give up on the issue.</p><p>At home, her activism has led to tensions. Howey's parents have agreed to a vegan lifestyle, they avoid plastic bags and traveling by plane. But her decision to skip classes left them deeply worried. In a society that highly values academic success, they feel she is trading her future for activism. But Howey brushed away her parents' concerns: "This is the most existential crisis ever for mankind. All of us must do everything we can to protect the climate."</p><p>Howey and a friend boarded a bus to take the six osmanthus seedlings to a village outside of the city. She met an old farmer, a distant relative, who agreed to let her plant the trees on his land. There is almost no uncultivated land around Guilin, a city known for the nearby scenic karst mountains. Howey relies on the cooperation of farmers for her project. Tang Xiaodi, the farmer, said he understands and supports Howey's activism.</p><p>"The seasons have changed," he said. "In the middle of the 8th lunar month [first half of September] it used to be already quite cold here. Now it's warm until the ninth and even 10th month."</p><p>They planted the six osmanthus trees next to a small canal in front of his house. "I feel planting trees is a way to spread the message in China," she said, referring to the tight controls and the nationalistic public climate on the internet in China. "Fridays for Future are being ridiculed and cursed a lot on the Chinese internet," she said. "But I do get some positive comments. People say: look, the Chinese students are planting trees, while the foreigners just speak empty words."</p><p><span></span><em>Reposted with permission from our media partner <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/chinas-first-fridays-for-future-sees-teen-planting-trees/a-51053269?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Greta Thunberg Declines $51K Environmental Prize, Says ‘Climate Movement Does Not Need any More Awards’
30 October 2019
Climate
"FridaysForFuture" climate protest at Civic Center Park in Denver on Oct. 11. FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP / Getty Images
Greta Thunberg wants action, not prizes.
The 16-year-old Swedish climate activist was awarded the 2019 Nordic Council Environment Prize Tuesday, but refused to accept it, CNN reported.
<p>"I want to thank the Nordic Council for this award. It is a huge honour," Thunberg wrote in an Instagram post from the U.S., where she is currently traveling. "But the climate movement does not need any more awards. What we need is for our politicians and the people in power start to listen to the current, best available science."</p>
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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div></a> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4Ns7PQpE5C/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">I have received the Nordic Council’s environmental award 2019. I have decided to decline this prize. Here’s why: “I am currently traveling through California and therefore not able to be present with you today. I want to thank the Nordic Council for this award. It is a huge honour. But the climate movement does not need any more awards. What we need is for our politicians and the people in power start to listen to the current, best available science. The Nordic countries have a great reputation around the world when it comes to climate and environmental issues. There is no lack of bragging about this. There is no lack of beautiful words. But when it comes to our actual emissions and our ecological footprints per capita - if we include our consumption, our imports as well as aviation and shipping - then it’s a whole other story. In Sweden we live as if we had about 4 planets according to WWF and Global Footprint Network. And roughly the same goes for the entire Nordic region. In Norway for instance, the government recently gave a record number of permits to look for new oil and gas. The newly opened oil and natural gas-field, ”Johan Sverdrup” is expected to produce oil and natural gas for 50 years; oil and gas that would generate global CO2 emissions of 1,3 tonnes. The gap between what the science says is needed to limit the increase of global temperature rise to below 1,5 or even 2 degrees - and politics that run the Nordic countries is gigantic. And there are still no signs whatsoever of the changes required. The Paris Agreement, which all of the Nordic countries have signed, is based on the aspect of equity, which means that richer countries must lead the way. We belong to the countries that have the possibility to do the most. And yet our countries still basically do nothing. So until you start to act in accordance with what the science says is needed to limit the global temperature rise below 1,5 degrees or even 2 degrees celsius, I - and Fridays For Future in Sweden - choose not to accept the Nordic Councils environmental award nor the prize money of 500 000 Swedish kronor. Best wishes Greta Thunberg”</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/gretathunberg/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Greta Thunberg</a> (@gretathunberg) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-10-29T19:37:01+00:00">Oct 29, 2019 at 12:37pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p>The Nordic Council is one of the "main forums for official Nordic cooperation," <a href="https://www.norden.org/en" target="_blank">according to its website</a>. It brings together Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland in order to "make the Nordic region the most sustainable and integrated region in the world."</p><p>But in her rejection post, Thunberg criticized the Nordic countries for the gap between their rhetoric and their action when it comes to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p><p>"The Nordic countries have a great reputation around the world when it comes to climate and environmental issues. There is no lack of bragging about this. There is no lack of beautiful words," she wrote. "But when it comes to our actual emissions and our ecological footprints per capita—if we include our consumption, our imports as well as aviation and shipping—then it's a whole other story."</p><p>She pointed to data from WWF and Global Footprint Network showing that <a href="https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=6550103" target="_blank">we would require around four planet earths</a> to sustain us if everyone lived like the population of Sweden. She also called out Norway's newly-opened <a href="https://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/johan-sverdrup-field-north-sea/" target="_blank">Johan Sverdrup</a> oil field, which is expected to produce oil and natural gas for 50 years.</p><p>"So until you start to act in accordance with what the science says is needed to limit the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees or even 2 degrees celsius, I—and Fridays For Future in Sweden—choose not to accept the Nordic Councils environmental award nor the prize money of 500,000 Swedish kronor," ($51,000) she concluded.</p><p>The theme for the council's 2019 prize was "initiatives that promote sustainable consumption and production by doing more with less," according to its <a href="https://www.norden.org/en/news/greta-thunberg-declines-nordic-council-environment-prize" target="_blank">website</a>.</p><p>Thunberg was nominated by Sweden and Norway, and selected by the jury for "breathing new life into the debate surrounding the environment and climate at a critical moment in world history."<br></p><p>In Thunberg's absence, the award was presented by Swedish environmental activist Noura Berrouba to Isabelle Axelsson and Sophia Axelsson of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fridays-for-future" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fridays For Future</a>, who declined it on Thunberg's behalf.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Greta Thunberg was awarded the Nordic Council Environment Prize, but has chosen not to accept it in protest at a lack of climate action. This was the message from Isabelle Axelsson and Sophia from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FridaysForFuture?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FridaysForFuture</a> 🌍 during the award ceremony: <a href="https://t.co/vxnuakQuMH">https://t.co/vxnuakQuMH</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ActNow?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ActNow</a></p>— Nordic Co-operation (@nordenen) <a href="https://twitter.com/nordenen/status/1189273979065962496?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script><p>Fridays for Future was started by Thunberg in August 2018 when she launched a one-person school strike outside Swedish parliament that grew into a global youth movement.<br></p><p>"Like none before her, in a very short space of time Greta has succeeded in raising awareness of climate and environmental issues in the Nordic countries and the rest of the world. She has stubbornly and persuasively urged the world to listen to research and act on the basis of facts," the Nordic Council wrote.</p><p>Her refusal message is a case in point.</p>
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An estimated 250,000 marched in NYC as part of a global strike on Sept. 20. Michael Nigro / Pacific Press / LightRocket / Getty Images
More than 7.6 million people worldwide participated in the global climate strike between Sept. 20 and 27, according to the current tally reported by 350.org. That number could grow as counting continues, but the week of strikes is confirmed as one of the largest global protests in history. For comparison, the massive 2003 protest against the Iraq War drew between six and 11 million.
<p>"This week was a demonstration of the power of our movement. People power is more powerful than the people in power. It was the biggest ever climate mobilization, and it's only the beginning. The momentum is on our side and we are not going anywhere," <a href="https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fridays For Future</a> International said.</p>
<div id="a1211" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="X97HR41576661392"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1177991604025643009" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Early numbers confirm at least
7 million people joined the #weekforfuture climate strikes! Thank you everyone, espe… https://t.co/ZoLKQhcPDt</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1177991604025643009">1569690059.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Four million people <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/global-climate-strike-2640528670.html?rebelltitem=7#rebelltitem7" target="_self">participated</a> in the first round of strikes on Friday, Sept. 20, making it the largest climate mobilization in history. But that number grew with strikes on Sept. 27. Large turnouts on the 27th were reported in New Zealand, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Canada, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/27/climate-crisis-6-million-people-join-latest-wave-of-worldwide-protests" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-49856860" target="_blank">BBC News</a>.</p><p>The day began in New Zealand, where more than 3.5 percent of the country participated, The Guardian reported. Demonstrators delivered a letter signed by 11,000 people to the country's parliament asking it to declare a climate emergency, according to another <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/27/nothing-else-matters-school-climate-strikes-sweep-new-zealand" target="_blank">Guardian report</a>.</p><p>"Our representatives need to show us meaningful and immediate action that safeguards our futures on this planet," School Strike 4 Climate national coordinator Raven Maeder said, as The Guardian reported. "Nothing else will matter if we cannot look after the Earth for current and future generations. This is our home."</p>
<div id="9f5fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PJUZ6Q1576661392"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1178189135489585152" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">27/09/2019 is one for the history books. #ClimateStrikeNZ https://t.co/WdkTukidlu</div> — School Strike 4 Climate NZ (@School Strike 4 Climate NZ)<a href="https://twitter.com/ss4cnz/statuses/1178189135489585152">1569737154.0</a></blockquote></div><p><br>Organizers counted 170,000 people through a combination of speaking to people on the ground, talking to councils and police and viewing drone footage, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/116172915/crunching-the-numbers-behind-the-national-climate-change-strike-turnout" target="_blank">New Zealand's Stuff reported</a>. It's a number of historic proportions, Stuff explained:<br></p><blockquote>If accurate, it takes the lead as one of New Zealand's biggest strikes (in terms of attendees) - beating out the <a href="https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/the-1951-waterfront-dispute" target="_blank">1951 industrial confrontation</a> that saw 22,000 wharfies join the picket line for 151 days from February to July, as well as <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/112890110/education-minister-chris-hipkins-tells-teachers-to-expect-disappointment" target="_blank">this year's mega teachers' strike</a>, but not quite the 1979 general strike which saw almost 300,000 workers nationwide join the picket line for one day.</blockquote><p>In Italy, meanwhile, more than one million people participated, <a href="http://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2019/09/27/one-million-in-italian-climate-protests_de7262b3-f1a6-4e0b-bb01-c68b524a6100.html" target="_blank">according to ANSA</a>.</p><p>"There are 200,000 people in Rome, which attracted the biggest crowd, followed by 150,000 in Milan," Gianfranco Mascia of Fridays For Future said. "There are around 80,000 in Naples, 50,000 in Florence, 20,000 in Turin and Bologna and 10,000 in Palermo and Bari."</p>
<div id="9c719" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="B06MTO1576661392"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1177584125512966149" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Rome! #ClimateStrike #FridaysForFuture https://t.co/uGC9nrJPKw</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1177584125512966149">1569592908.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Swedish 16-year-old <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greta-thunberg" target="_self">Greta Thunberg</a>, who has been instrumental in launching the school strike movement, marched in Montreal with half a million others, BBC News reported.</p><p>"It is very moving to see everyone, everyone who is so passionate to march and strike," she told reporters. "It is a very good day, I would say."</p>
<div id="0d717" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="HKYCI21576661392"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1177672105720201218" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">It’s official. 500,000 people came out into the streets of Montreal today to join the Global #ClimateStrike
They’… https://t.co/PVcj5ersgH</div> — 350 dot org (@350 dot org)<a href="https://twitter.com/350/statuses/1177672105720201218">1569613884.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Leading the Montreal strike were 15 indigenous and 15 non-indigenous delegates holding a banner by Anishinaabe artist Rachel Thusky Cloutier, which read, "Au front pour la Mère Terre, To the front lines for Mother Earth," <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-youth-climate-strike-1.5298524" target="_blank">CBC News reported</a>.</p><p>In total, 800,000 people participated all over Canada, according to 350.org. Canada's climate strikers are calling for an end to new <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> infrastructure and subsidies, BBC News reported. That means cancelling the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trans-mountain-pipeline" target="_self">Trans Mountain Pipeline</a> expansion, which has the support of both Canada's Liberal and Conservative political parties. Strikers also want the country to commit to reducing emissions by 75 percent of 2005 levels by 2030.</p><p>The organizers behind the global climate strikes now intend to build on the past week's success. The next UN Climate Summit will take place in Chile in December, and organizers there say they will continue fighting until governments take meaningful action to reduce emissions and phase out fossil fuels.</p>"Today in Chile we marched from Arica to Punta Arenas, where people of all ages, organizations and institutions gave their voice, a voice that bravely rises to ask politicians of the world for no more double speeches and more actions that seek the 'good living', or as they say in my community, the <em>küme mongen</em>," Fridays for Future Chile organizer Joel Enrique Panichine, who identifies as a member of the Mapuche people, told 350.org.
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Greta Thunberg Says 'Haters' Attacking Her Asperger's Have 'Nowhere Left to Go'
03 September 2019
Climate
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, 16, attends a youth led protest in front of UN in support of measures to stop climate crisis on on Aug. 30 in NYC. Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Champions of Greta Thunberg — and the 16-year-old climate activist herself — hit back against malicious right-wing bullies over the weekend as she called her Asperger's syndrome diagnosis a "superpower" and her defenders said there is but one reason that people attack the person who has galvanized the global climate strike movement: they are afraid of her.
<p>"The bile thrown at Greta Thunberg is motivated by one thing alone: this incredibly intelligent, eloquent, and compassionate 16-year-old has terrified some of the most hateful and reactionary so-called 'grown ups' on earth," <a href="https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1168237800791117825" target="_blank">said</a> British political columnist activist Owen Jones. "She's achieved more [at age] 16 than they ever will."</p><p>Following her recent arrival in the U.S. to attend rallies outside the United Nations and promote a week of international climate strike actions, taking place from Sept. 20 - 27, Thunberg on Saturday suggested that a fresh wave of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-49291464" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">criticism</a> directed at her from <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-denier" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate science denialists</a> and right-wingers—including those mocking her Asperger's diagnosis—exposes much more about them than her.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="bf5e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="BUIP5K1576661520"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1167916177927991296" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">When haters go after your looks and differences, it means they have nowhere left to go. And then you know you’re wi… https://t.co/0LHxi6ZUa4</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1167916177927991296">1567287890.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>"I'm not public about my diagnosis to 'hide' behind it, but because I know many ignorant people still see it as an 'illness', or something negative," Thunberg added. "And believe me, my diagnosis has limited me before."<br></p><p>In a column on Al-Jazeera English <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/afraid-greta-thunberg-190901191445655.html" target="_blank">published</a> Monday, writer Andrew Mitrovica came to the defense of Thunberg as he referred to those attacking her as "scientifically illiterate bullies." According to Mitrovica, agreeing with Jones, it is Thunberg's attributes — including her fearlessness and abilility to speak and act so matter-of-factly — that makes hers such a potent voice. He writes:</p><blockquote>She disdains celebrity. She makes no claim to heroism. She rebuffs efforts to idolise her. She isn't calculating or preoccupied with fame or ego. There is no artifice about her. She speaks plainly, without affectation or embroidery. <br><br>In words and deeds, Thunberg is the embodiment of philosopher Howard Zinn's admonition: "We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/future-greta-thunberg-joins-school-strikers-190830181629899.html" target="_blank">Small acts</a>, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power that can transform the world."</blockquote><p>Meanwhile, in an interview with the UK's Channel 4 News, Thunberg said she has nothing to say to people who refuse to believe in the scientific warnings about the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate crisis</a>.</p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="5f265" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QV66ZY1576661520"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1168565400239517696" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">16-year-old climate activist @GretaThunberg says she “has nothing to say” to people who don’t believe in climate ch… https://t.co/HqmMklUgFz</div> — Mike Hudema (@Mike Hudema)<a href="https://twitter.com/MikeHudema/statuses/1168565400239517696">1567442676.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Asked if there was still time to address the planetary emergency, Thunberg said, "Yes, we do. We still have time. But that time will not last for long so we need to do something now and we need to do it quickly and we need to do it drastically."<br></p><p>But while part of Thunberg's story lends itself to the notion that "one person can make a difference," she is also the first to acknowledge that it is going to demand massive collective action — from everyone and all over the world — to solve the climate emergency.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="7d4fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QGLB9Q1576661520"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1168219616176410624" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">On Friday the 20th and 27th of September we will strike again for the right to a future. But we can’t do it alone.… https://t.co/VbfwVpJmSz</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1168219616176410624">1567360235.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/02/category-5-dorian-devastates-pope-francis-urges-world-act-fast-climate-emergency" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br></p>
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'We Need to Listen and Learn From Young People': This September, Climate Strikes Go Global
29 August 2019
Climate
This photo was taken during the climate strike in the Philippines on May 24. Global Collections / 350.org
Environmental activists around the world are strategizing and planning demonstrations to coincide with next month's United Nations Climate Action Summit, which starts on September 23. The organizers aim to force politicians and lawmakers to confront the urgency of the global climate crisis, which is accelerating at an alarming rate.
<p>The UN Climate Summit will be bookended by global climate strikes from students around the world and organized by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greta-thunberg">Greta Thunberg's</a> <a href="https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/" target="_blank">Fridays For Future</a>. The student walkouts and demonstrations from young people will happen in every time zone around the world. In Australia, the New South Wales Uniting Church encouraged students to protest the Australian government's inaction on the climate crisis, as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/27/sydney-anglican-and-catholic-schools-system-wont-back-student-climate-strike" target="_blank">Guardian</a> reported.</p>
<p>"We need to listen and learn from young people," the church said in a statement. "It's their future that is at stake and their protests are genuine and informed and should not be ignored."</p>
<p>For a country with a population under 40 million people, Australia is one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/australia-emissions-record-high-2639152810.html?rebelltitem=2" target="_self">EcoWatch</a> reported. </p>
<p>Reverend Simon Hansford of the Uniting Church in New South Wales offered the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/27/sydney-anglican-and-catholic-schools-system-wont-back-student-climate-strike" target="_blank">Guardian</a> a response for anyone who dismisses young people as uninformed and overly idealistic. </p>
<p>"The history of adult responses to young people's activism is to class them as uninformed, but these young people are informed and responding to the climate crisis," he said.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://globalclimatestrike.net/" target="_blank">Global Climate Strike</a> <a href="https://globalclimatestrike.net/" target="_blank">website</a> has an interactive map where students from Fiji to Uganda to Maui can go to find a climate strike near them. Similarly, <a href="https://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> has resources for joining protests or helping to reduce fossil fuel dependence. It also has a <a href="https://350.org/support-climate-strikes/" target="_blank">page</a> dedicated to how to help the global climate strike.</p>
<p>The Fridays for Future movement is important to students like Olivia Wohlgemuth, a 16-year-old in New York City who told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/28/nyregion/greta-thunberg-new-york.html?searchResultPosition=2" target="_blank">New York Times</a>, "There's nothing in the curriculum to explain the urgency of the climate crisis and the need to act. We're saying, 'Why study for the future we're not going to have?'" </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/27/if-kid-says-help-you-help-adults-urged-join-upcoming-global-climate-strike" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a> reported, on Monday <a href="https://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> co-founder Bill McKibben penned a letter to supporters that the choice to join in the September 20 global climate strike should be a simple one. </p>
<p>"If a kid says help, you help," wrote McKibben.</p>
<p>McKibben has also <a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/1162784309629136896" target="_blank">tweeted</a> that the Week of Action planned for September is a change to put pressure on politicians. </p>
<p>"July was the hottest month the planet has ever seen. In September we have to turn up the political heat," he wrote on <a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/1162784309629136896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1162784309629136896&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2F2019%2F08%2F20%2Fmonth-ahead-global-climate-strike-thousands-pledge-attend-rallies-across-planet-turn" target="_blank">Twitter</a> one month before the Global Climate Strike.</p>
<p> During the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/20/month-ahead-global-climate-strike-thousands-pledge-attend-rallies-across-planet-turn" target="_blank">Week of Action</a> that starts after September 20, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to sit-in at pipeline projects, plant trees, or attend rallies and march in cities around the world to make a number of demands —including an end to fossil fuels, a shift to renewable energy, and greater commitments from UN countries to cut their carbon emissions, as <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/08/27/if-kid-says-help-you-help-adults-urged-join-upcoming-global-climate-strike" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a> reported. </p>
<p>In Washington DC, protestors plan to block traffic at key intersections on Sept. 23 when the UN Climate Action Summit starts, according to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/27/climate-activists-plan-washington-dc-protest-to-disrupt-workings-of-power" target="_blank">Guardian</a>. They want to shutdown business as usual to draw attention to an intensifying global <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate crisis</a>. </p>
<p>"The level of frustration with the inaction of political leaders and corporations on the climate crisis is just really boiling over," said Patrick Young from the group Rising Tide. </p>
<p>A number of environmental and equality groups have joined together to highlight worsening superstorms, floods, droughts and wildfires, according to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/27/climate-activists-plan-washington-dc-protest-to-disrupt-workings-of-power" target="_blank">Guardian</a>. They also want to draw attention to how these disasters disproportionately affect the poor and people of color. </p>
<p>"We do not take this action lightly. We know that this shutdown will cause massive disruption to people who bear little responsibility for the climate catastrophe we are facing. But we will also cause massive disruption for politicians, huge corporations and the lobbyists who control our government," the groups say in a document for Shut Down DC.</p>
<p>Similar actions have been taken recently. Most notably, last month, protestors from Extinction Rebellion glued themselves into congressional doorways to prevent lawmakers from going about their business, as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/23/extinction-rebellion-protesters-us-capitol-washington" target="_blank">Guardian</a> reported. </p>
<p>Some are not waiting until September. Tomorrow, Greta Thunberg will join a Fridays For Future protest outside the United Nations Headquarters, she announced in a <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1166853727522820096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1166853727522820096&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2019%2F08%2F28%2Fnyregion%2Fgreta-thunberg-new-york.html" target="_blank">tweet</a>. </p>
<p>Also, the Extinction Rebellion will start a four-day protest this weekend in Manchester, a city with alarmingly high levels of air pollution that has plans to expand its airport and dismantle cycling lanes to open a massive parking lot near an elementary school, as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/28/extinction-rebellion-to-take-over-manchester-street-in-climate-protest" target="_blank">Guardian</a> reported.</p><div id="a1e12" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="MA7QK21576661540"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1166853727522820096" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Finally here. Thank you everyone who came to see me off in Plymouth, and everyone who welcomed me in New York! Now… https://t.co/ZWObWdfghn</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1166853727522820096">1567034582.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Fridays for Future strike in Jena, Germany on March 15.
Aspenlaub (blattboldt) / Flickr
By Stuart Braun
A year after activist Greta Thunberg first stood in the rain outside the Swedish parliament with her now iconic "Skolstrejk för klimatet" — school strike for the climate — placard, the movement she spawned has set the tone for environmental protest action around the world.
<p>In the space of just 12 months, Thunberg herself has become something of a teen climate icon, and her Fridays For Future movement has led to strikes in 3,804 locations across 161 countries. The biggest was on March 15, when around 1.6 million students took part in a massive global climate strike. </p><p>But with the summer holidays in Europe leading to a decline in protest numbers, there are already rumblings about whether the movement has peaked, and how it is going to maintain momentum moving into its second year. </p>
<div id="7d4ef" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="NUWYCK1576661582"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1162342911549329409" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">School strike week 52.
Pos 47 degrees 17 minutes north and 13 degrees 17 minutes west
#fridaysforfuture… https://t.co/m2AlvrB59y</div> — Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg)<a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/statuses/1162342911549329409">1565959120.0</a></blockquote></div>
Keeping up the Fight
<p>Some say they've noticed a drop-off in numbers. "It's harder for students to miss out on school nowadays," Berlin student Martha Stert, who attended more than 20 weekly Fridays for Future protests in 2018, told DW.</p><p>The 18-year-old — whose summer break finished at the beginning of August — says teachers have become stricter about missing class as the weekly protests have continued; and that the movement's reputation has also been negatively affected by some students who use the strikes as an excuse to miss school.</p><p>But while Stert says she herself is struggling to attend protests as final year exams loom, she believes that younger students are just as enthusiastic and will keep up the momentum. "Protesting at school time" is an essential strategy, she said, as it's the only thing adults "are going to take notice of."</p><p>Orli Mastrocola-Simon, an 18-year-old final year high school student who has attended <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/australian-kids-skip-school-in-climate-protest/a-46516457" target="_blank">climate strike protests</a> in Hobart in the southern Australian state of Tasmania, agrees. "A lot of people are definitely still involved, they are very enthusiastic and passionate," she told DW as she also readies for exams. </p><p>While Mastrocola-Simon believes the movement also drew supporters because it was somewhat fashionable, many of her friends have since become committed activists who are traveling interstate to attend protests against the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/environmentalists-vow-to-fight-carmichael-coal-mine-in-australia/a-39126204" target="_blank">Adani coal mine</a>, for instance. </p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="61aa3d0c4642e088eca0e395e3293e79"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uhS6b6KLRWA?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish?sub_confirmation=1 For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/ Follow DW on social media: ►Facebo...
A Generational Issue
<p>Moritz Sommer from the Institut für Soziologie, Freie Universität Berlin, and co-author of a <a href="https://protestinstitut.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ipb-working-paper_FFF_final_online.pdf" target="_blank">working paper</a> on the emergence of the Fridays For Future protest movement in Germany says part of the success of the movement is the fact that "Fridays For Future manages the climate issue as a generational issue."</p><p>"These young people feel attached to each other, they feel that their future is in danger," he told DW, adding that the movement grew up less through social media platforms than in the classroom. </p><p>Sommer's Fridays For Future paper that was released this week includes evidence that most participants found out about the protests through word of mouth, not Twitter or Facebook.</p><p>And while some political groups have supported and tried to influence the movement that has been credited with helping <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-greens-hit-poll-high-ahead-of-merkels-bloc-survey/a-49094285" target="_blank">Green parties</a> get their highest vote at the European elections in May, Sommer said the strikes are managed through school councils, not political parties. In this way, they have been able to appeal to a broad church by being politically non-partisan. </p><p>"A year ago, would anyone have believed that there would be a movement like this," a German Fridays For Future activist who is simply known as Simon, told DW. </p><p>Even in week 52 of the protests on August 16, when much of the northern hemisphere was still in a summer slumber, there were at least 1000 strikes in 99 countries — including in Berlin, where hundreds turned out barely a week after school returned. </p><div id="d9e76" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="YUCSD11576661582"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1162247486737543170" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Week 52 since the strike started!! So after today the strikes have been going on for a year! We guess… https://t.co/DVNDbuvAAx</div> — Isabelle Axelsson🌍 (@Isabelle Axelsson🌍)<a href="https://twitter.com/isabelle_ax/statuses/1162247486737543170">1565936369.0</a></blockquote></div>
Pressuring Politicians
<p>In Ottawa, Canada, a small group of four weekly protesters have grown to up to 20 outside Parliament Hill in the capital.</p><p>"It's difficult to ask youth who have never taken part in any form of civil disobedience to stand up and fight against world governments they've seen as allies," Mia Beijer, who co-founded Future Rising Ottawa this January at the age of 15, told DW. </p><p>"But with the knowledge and information so easy to obtain, more and more youth are standing up and taking part in the youth climate movement, and we are becoming more and more connected." </p><p>Like in Australia, where students have actively targeted the prime minister, Scott Morrison, who last year said that "kids should go to school" — and who famously carried a piece of coal into parliament to extol the virtues of the fossil fuel —Canadian protesters are pressuring their political leaders to create change. </p><p>While the incumbent Liberal party under <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/Justin-Trudeau">Justin Trudeau</a> has, according to Beijer, "purchased old, leaky <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/protests-threaten-to-halt-controversial-canadian-oil-pipeline/a-43876668" target="_blank">pipelines</a> and given subsidies to several fossil fuel companies and corporations," she is concerned that "even the Green Party is showing signs of weakness when it comes to the environment and making meaningful changes for our future."</p><p>"We haven't seen enough dramatic change, from any world government, to steer us away from the climate apocalypse we are all heading towards," Beijer said. "So we will continue to strike, march and protest until we are no longer terrified to dream about what is to come in our futures." </p>Mass Mobilization
<p>Simon from Fridays For Future in Germany says the strategy is working. "I believe the movement is helping put the climate crisis high on the political agenda," he told DW, noting that since the protests began, a "<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-emergency-new-hope-or-just-empty-words/a-49523833" target="_blank">climate emergency</a>" has been declared in countries such as Great Britain, France and Canada, as well as in various cities across the world.</p><p>"Mobilization continues," said the authors of a July report titled <a href="https://protestinstitut.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/20190709_Protest-for-a-future_GCS-Descriptive-Report.pdf" target="_blank"><em>Protest for a Future</em></a>. "This wave of climate protest mobilization is unique in its tactics, global scope and appeal to teenage school students," the report's editors Mattias Wahlström, Piotr Kocyba, Michiel De Vydt and Joost de Moor added, pointing to a long future ahead for the movement. </p><p>This longevity will be further assured as the movement broadens, says Sommer, adding that the "Global Week for Future" climate strikes planned from September 20 will symbolize the next phase of an "astonishing" protest movement. In Germany, major trade unions, for example, will join the school strikers in one of their biggest mobilizations. </p><p>"We hope adults from all walks of life will join the young all over the world," said Simon of the upcoming intergenerational climate protests organized by Fridays For Future.</p>'No one is too small'
<p>But above all, the movement will stay true to Thunberg's motto that "no one is too small to make a difference" — also the title of her best-selling book.</p><p>Typical is 14-year-old Mary Ellis Stevens of Charlotte, North Carolina, who has maintained a weekly school strike for climate outside Charlotte Mecklenburg Government Center for 19 weeks — often on her own. </p><p>"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept," reads her Twitter bio.</p><div id="8f2a6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PULGS01576661582"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1159969222933590016" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Week 18!!!
📍Charlotte, NC
Same time, same place, same heat and humidity, same overwhelming need for #climateaction… https://t.co/wlLKlnz3Mq</div> — Mary Ellis Stevens 🌱 (@Mary Ellis Stevens 🌱)<a href="https://twitter.com/_Mary_Ellis/statuses/1159969222933590016">1565393188.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/after-a-year-of-strikes-can-fridays-for-future-maintain-momentum/a-50095360" target="_blank">DW</a>.</em></p>
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