Tens of thousands of youth, including school students, marched in different parts of Europe on Friday, demanding that authorities prioritize plans to combat climate change. Strikes and marches were held in the major cities of Switzerland, Germany and Belgium.
According to reports, thousands of school children and university students across Switzerland marched on the streets of at least 15 Swiss cities on Friday, demanding climate action with the slogan “There is no planet B”. It was estimated that 8,000 youth marched in Geneva to the United Nations’ European headquarters and around 4,000 students joined the march in Lausanne. The protesters help up placards with whacky slogans including “If the climate was a bank, it would have been rescued already” and “The planet is hotter than my boyfriend.”
Associated Press reported that in Berlin, thousands marched, demanding an effective resolution in an upcoming political decision about when to end the use of coal in the country.
In Belgium, it was estimated that around 15,000 young students of Flanders and Brussels schools went on strike, demanding an effective climate policy on Thursday. Earlier, on January 10, thousands of young students had marched on the streets of Brussels for the same cause.
The whole action was reportedly initiated by students inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old Swedish girl who addressed the recent climate summit in Katowice, Poland. While addressing the gathering, she said, “Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue making enormous amounts of money. Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people in some countries can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few”.
