Thousands of schoolchildren across the world walked out of their schools on Friday to fight for a greater cause – inaction against climate change. Students in more than 100 countries took to the streets, demanding that elected officials take action against global warming.
The School Strike 4 Climate was part of #Friday’sForFuture movement inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has been staging strikes outside Sweden’s parliament every Friday since August 2018. The 16-year-old has now been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Videos from cities in the United States and Europe, including New York, Washington DC, Paris and Rome showed children rallying during school hours, holding placards that highlighted the impact of global warming.
The protests also found their way to India, where students in metros like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and smaller cities like Udaipur in Rajasthan and Ambikapur in Chhattisgarh joined in the rallies, according to News 18.
The Guardian reported that organisers of the marches estimated that as many as 2,000 protests were held globally, and one million students skipped classes to participate. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the strikes have inspired him to call a special summit of world leaders in September to deal with “the climate emergency.”
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