• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
Celebrating our 1,000th edition. The climate news you need
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  FEATURED
BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package August 7, 2022
Researchers Point To ‘Dangerously Unexplored’ Risk of Global Climate Catastrophe August 2, 2022
Koch Network Pressures Manchin, Sinema as Advocates Praise ‘Game Changing’ Climate Deal August 2, 2022
Coastal GasLink Cost Skyrockets 70% to $11.2B August 2, 2022
Ottawa Releases Regulatory ‘Frame’ for Net-Zero Grid by 2035 August 2, 2022
Next
Prev

Youth Around the World Demand Action During Friday’s Global Climate Strike

September 27, 2020
Reading time: 4 minutes

NiklasPntk/Pixabay

NiklasPntk/Pixabay

1
SHARES
 

From Vienna to Seoul, Pretoria to Warsaw, Saskatoon to Hong Kong, youth climate activists—masked and social distancing—returned to the streets last week for a Global Climate Strike calling for a green and just recovery.

Alongside #FridaysforFuture pioneer Greta Thunberg, who marked the 110th week of her own climate strike in her home town of Stockholm, youth and adult supporters from nearly 3,500 communities in at least 150 countries gathered September 24 to speak out on the urgent need for aggressive climate action, reports The Guardian.

While COVID-19 control protocols necessarily reduced the numbers on the streets, those who did attend were vocal and creative. Protests included marchers outfitting themselves in plastic bottle waste in Nairobi, people in New Delhi carrying signs reading “It’s getting hot in here,” and 18-year-old British Bangladeshi ornithologist and justice campaigner Mya-Rose Craig (aka “Birdgirl”) perching alone on an Arctic ice floe off the northernmost tip of Norway.

Click here for our Special Report on climate and the U.S. election.

“I’m here because I want to see for myself what’s at stake as this crucial protector of the planet, the Arctic Ocean, melts away at a terrifying rate,” she told The Guardian.

Digital streaming played a role in the protests, too. “One innovation brought on by COVID restrictions was a 24-hour Zoom call, featuring people from across the world speaking about the issues in their region, interspersed with activism-related activities for callers,” The Guardian writes.

Other in-person protests included a demonstration in front of Australia’s parliament buildings in Canberra, where protestors held placards imploring leaders to “fund our future—not gas,” reports Grist. Speakers at the event drew a clear connection between the government subsidies that support Australia’s gas industry and the wildfire infernos that now regularly terrorize its communities.

Meanwhile, marchers in Philippines “linked the strike to concerns over terror laws being used to outlaw protests, and to the plight of developing countries ignored by the rich world,” Grist adds.

“We Filipinos are among the most impacted, ranking second in the latest global climate risk index, yet our contributions to greenhouse gas emissions are so little,” said campaigner Mitzi Jonelle Tan. She said next to nothing is being done by those who, insulated for now from much of the climate crisis, have done so much to cause it in the first place.

Actions in Canada included a sit-in at an intersection in downtown Toronto and a protest in Calgary, where youth promoted a theme of “The Planet Is on Fire… and So Are We” while expressing support for the We Are Not Going Back movement, and an op ed in the Halifax Chronicle Herald by undergrad Sadie Quinn. Framing her argument through the lens of all she has learned in (often problematic) public school history classes, Quinn asks her readers to understand that instability breeds hunger for change—a hunger that can be destructive (such as historical rises in fascism), or profoundly healing (such as the many dimensions of the current fight to “build back better”).

Which way we go now, she writes, comes down to vision. “The difference between harmful and helpful movements is the difference between a desire to go back to an idealized past and a dream for a better future that we’ve never experienced before.”

Many in Quinn’s own demographic, she notes, are in no doubt as to which path they choose. “I am continually astonished by the ability of my generation to dream of a better future rather than passively watching the world burn,” she writes. “I don’t want to offer any silver linings to this situation, but I am inspired by every young person who is bringing the current potential for change to the attention of their peers, parents, and governments.”

Several pieces of positive news hint that the current discussions in the world’s halls of power may be leaning in a positive direction. In its coverage of the Global Climate Strike, The Guardian points to China’s surprise announcement to the UN General Assembly in New York City that it is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2060, with the interim goal of having its carbon dioxide emissions “peak and then decline before 2030.”

Those commitments “would reduce global temperature rises by between 0.2°C and 0.3°C,” notes The Guardian. “If borne out, that would go a long way to keeping within reach the Paris Agreement target of holding temperature rises to well below 2°C, with an aspiration of a 1.5°C limit.”

Further hopeful news: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UN Secretary General António Guterres have agreed to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement by convening an interim meeting of all Paris signatories this December. All in attendance will be expected to come bearing detailed national plans to further reduce their emissions.

“Current commitments would result in temperature rises of 3.0°C, which would wreak devastation and extreme weather over swaths of the globe,” writes The Guardian.



in Canada, Climate & Society, Climate Action / "Blockadia", COP Conferences, Demographics, Ending Emissions, International, Jurisdictions, Media, Messaging, & Public Opinion

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

openthegovernment.org
United States

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
280
jasonwoodhead23/flickr
Energy Politics

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
135
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France
Nuclear

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
307

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Joseph Brent/Flickr

Green Hydrogen Will Cost Less than Fossil-Fuelled ‘Blue’, Shell CEO Admits

August 7, 2022
590
openthegovernment.org

BREAKING: U.S. Senate Passes Historic $369B Climate Package

August 8, 2022
280
Early stages of construction on the Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in France

Failing French Nuclear Plants Drive Up Electricity Costs as Heat Waves Cut Production

August 8, 2022
307
David Wilson/wikimedia commons

U.S. State Treasurers Use Public Office to Thwart Climate Action, Investigation Finds

August 7, 2022
133
/MaxPixels

‘Substantial Damage’, No Injuries as Freight Train Hits Wind Turbine Blade

May 25, 2022
5.6k
Green Energy Futures/flickr

Solar Shingle Buying Guide Lays Out Options for Curious Homeowners

August 7, 2022
146

Recent Posts

jasonwoodhead23/flickr

Fossils Dismiss Federal Emissions Cap as ‘Aggressive’, ‘Unrealistic’

August 8, 2022
135
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

Canadians Share Stories of Fear, Vulnerability from 2021 Heat Dome

August 7, 2022
68
Brian Jeffery Beggerly/Wikimedia Commons

China’s Latest Renewables Plan Could Bridge Global 1.5°C Gap, Expert Says

August 9, 2022
139
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service - Pacific Region/Wikimedia Commons

Australia Bans New Coal Mine to Protect Great Barrier Reef, Faces Call for Full Moratorium

August 7, 2022
78
The Come Up Show/flickr

Celebrities, Influencers See Backlash for Private Jet Emissions

August 7, 2022
63
alexxxis/Pixabay

Cambridge University to Rename BP Institute Following Student Backlash

August 7, 2022
48
Next Post
Ralph Torrie

Ottawa Needs Wide-Ranging Programs to Match Big-Picture Throne Speech, Torrie Says

The Energy Mix

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}