Thousands of school children across 100 countries will stage a walk out of their classrooms on Friday demanding governments to take action on climate change, The Guardian reported. Protests that are part of the School Strike 4 Climate have already begun in parts of Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Thailand.
In India, student groups in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Gurugram, Bhavnagar in Gujarat, Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh, and Udaipur in Rajasthan will participate in the strike, according to News18.
The students have been inspired by Swedish school student Greta Thunberg, who has staged a strike every Friday outside the Swedish Parliament since August 2018. Students across Europe, Asia, the United States are expected to join the strike. Thunberg has been nominated to receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
The School Strike 4 Climate Australia said students were “striking from school to tell our politicians to take our futures seriously and treat climate change for what it is – a crisis.” Student protestors are demanding that their governments aggressively cut their greenhouse gas emissions, according to The Hindu. Some students are demanding a lower voting age, so they can have a bigger say in political process.
Amnesty International said that the failure of world governments to tackle the climate crisis could amount to “one of the greatest intergenerational human rights violations in history”.
“It’s unfortunate that children have to sacrifice days of learning in school to demand that adults do the right thing,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Kumi Naidoo. “However, they know the consequences of the current shameful inaction both for themselves and future generations. This should be a moment for stark self-reflection by our political class.”
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