School Strike for Climate ( sv, Skolstrejk för klimatet), also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate, is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand
action from political leaders to
prevent climate change and for the
fossil fuel
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...
industry to transition to
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
.
Publicity and widespread organising began after
Swedish pupil
Greta Thunberg
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.
Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...
staged a protest in August 2018 outside of the Swedish
Riksdag
The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
(parliament), holding a sign that read "" ("School strike for climate").
A global strike on 15 March 2019 gathered more than one million strikers in 2,200 strikes organised in 125 countries.
On 24 May 2019, in the second global strike, 1,600 protests across 150 countries drew hundreds of thousands of strikers. The May protests were timed to coincide with the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...
.
The 2019
''Global Week for Future'' was a series of 4,500 strikes across over 150 countries, focused around Friday 20 September and Friday 27 September. Likely the largest climate strikes in world history, the 20 September strikes gathered roughly 4 million protesters, many of them schoolchildren, including 1.4 million in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
. On 27 September, an estimated two million people participated in demonstrations worldwide, including over one million protesters in Italy and several hundred thousand protesters in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
.
Earlier school climate strikes
In November 2006 the Australian Youth Climate Coalition was formed to organise climate change actions involving youth and school children. In 2010 in England there were school walkouts over climate change, linked to a Climate Camp. In late-November 2015, an independent group of students invited other students around the world to skip school on the first day of the
2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Conv ...
in Paris. On 30 November, the first day of the conference, a "Climate strike" was organised in over 100 countries; over people participated. The movement focused on three demands: 100%
clean energy; keeping
fossil fuel
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ma ...
s in the ground, and helping
climate refugees.
Greta Thunberg, 2018
![Old town Stockholm the bike of Greta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Old_town_Stockholm_the_bike_of_Greta.jpeg)
On 20 August 2018, the Swedish climate activist
Greta Thunberg
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.
Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...
,
then in
ninth grade
Ninth grade, freshman year, or grade 9 is the ninth year of school education in some school systems. Ninth grade is often the first school year of high school in the United States, or the last year of middle/junior high school. In some countrie ...
, decided to not attend school until the
2018 Sweden general election
General elections were held in Sweden on 9 September 2018 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag. Regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The incumbent minority government, consisting of the Social Democrats and the ...
on 9 September after
heat waves and
wildfires in Sweden.
She has said she was inspired by the teen activists at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Florida
Parkland is a suburban city, 42 miles northwest of Miami, in northern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Parkland was 34,670. Parkland is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166 ...
, who organised the
March for Our Lives. Thunberg protested by sitting outside the
Riksdag
The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
every day during school hours with a sign that read "" ("school strike for climate"). Among her demands were that the Swedish government reduce
carbon emissions per the
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, adaptation, and ...
. On 7 September, just before the general elections, she announced that she would continue to strike every Friday until Sweden aligns with the Paris Agreement. She coined the slogan Fridays For Future, which gained worldwide attention, and inspired school students across the globe to take part in
student strikes.
Thunberg travelled to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on a two-week journey by sailboat to continue calling attention to the work needed to address the
climate crisis. She participated in school strikes being planned in the U.S on 20 September, and soon after she spoke at the UN Climate Summit on 23 September 2019, in New York City.
Growing movement, 2019
School strikes for climate
School Strike for Climate ( sv, Skolstrejk för klimatet), also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate, is an international movement of school students who skip Friday ...
began to be organised around the world, inspired by
Thunberg. The first strike to number more than one person took place in The Hague in September outside the Dutch
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, led by Sandor van Gessel, Anne-Laure Stroek, Ianthe Minnaert and Ellis van der Borgh. In the days that followed, in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
, thousands of students began to strike on Fridays, ignoring
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
Scott Morrison's call for "more learning in schools and less activism".
Galvanised by the
COP24
The 2018 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as the Katowice Climate Change Conference or COP24, was the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It was held bet ...
Climate Change Conference in
Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popu ...
, Poland, strikes continued at least in 270 cities
in December in countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada,
the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland,
the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In 2019, strikes were organised again in the countries listed above and in other countries, among them Colombia, New Zealand, and Uganda. Mass strikes took place on 17 and 18 January 2019, when at least students protested in Switzerland and Germany alone, against insufficient policies on global warming.
In several countries, including Germany and the UK, pupils demanded the change of
laws to reduce the
voting age to 16 so that they could influence public elections in favour of the youth.
![Fridays For Future in Bozen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Fridays_For_Future_in_Bozen.jpg)
In Germany, regional groups were organised, communicating autonomously within
WhatsApp
WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows use ...
groups and spreading their messages using flyers and social media. By February 2019, more than 155 local groups were counted by the movement.
In United States, organizers coordinated on a state-by-state level and communicated autonomously within
Slack groups and spreading their messages using flyers and social media. By February 2019, more than 134 groups were counted by the movement. The organizations
Sunrise Movement
Sunrise Movement is an American 501(c)(4) political action organization that advocates political action on climate change. When launched in 2017, the movement's goal was to elect proponents of renewable energy in the 2018 midterm elections, fi ...
,
350.org, OneMillionOfUs,
Earth Uprising,
Future Coalition
Future Coalition is an American nonprofit organization consisting of a national network of youth-led organizations and initiatives centered around creating social change.
About
Future Coalition is a coalition of over 60 youth-led activist orga ...
, Earth Guardians, Zero Hour, and Extinction Rebellion helped to coordinate.
The Belgian environment minister for
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
,
Joke Schauvliege, resigned on 5 February 2019 after falsely claiming the state security agency had evidence that the school strikes in Belgium were a "set‑up".
In the United Kingdom, on 13 February 2019, following open letters in support of the
socio-political movement
Extinction Rebellion in 2018, 224 academics signed an open letter giving their "full support to the students" attending the School Strike for Climate action.
On Friday 15 February, more than 60 actions in towns and cities within the United Kingdom took place, with an estimated strikers taking part.
![Fridays For Future Vicenza](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Fridays_For_Future_Vicenza.jpg)
Climate scientist
Stefan Rahmstorf,
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK, German: ''Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung'') is a German government-funded research institute addressing crucial scientific questions in the fields of global change, climate imp ...
, addressed a Fridays for Future climate strike in
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of ...
, Germany that same day.
On 21 February 2019, the
President of the European Commission
The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...
,
Jean-Claude Juncker, stated his intent to spend hundreds of billions of euros on
climate-change mitigation, amounting to a fourth of the EU budget. He announced this in a speech next to Greta Thunberg, and media credited the school-strike movement with provoking the announcement.
On 5 March 2019, 700 German-speaking researchers signed a statement in support of the school strikes in that country.
Other researchers were invited to support the statement and it has been signed by over scientists from mainly Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
On 9 May 2019, during a European Union summit in
Sibiu
Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...
, representatives of the movement from all over Europe met with several national leaders of European countries and handed them an open letter, which was signed by over European climate strikers and their sympathisants.
Global Climate Strike for Future of 15 March 2019
On 15 March 2019, a series of school strikes urging adults to take responsibility and stop the climate change took place. More than a million people demonstrated in about events worldwide across 125 countries.
On 1 March 2019, 150 students from the global coordination group of the youth-led climate strike (of 15 March), including Thunberg, issued an open letter in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', saying:
In Scotland, city councils of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Highland and Fife gave permission for children to attend the strikes. In Finland parental consent letters were sent to schools and in the Finnish city of
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
the school board proclaimed that children had a constitutional right to take part in the strikes.
On the morning of 15 March in a ''Guardian'' guest editorial, titled "Think we should be at school? Today's climate strike is the biggest lesson of all", school-climate-strikers Thunberg,
Anna Taylor,
Luisa Neubauer, Kyra Gantois,
Anuna De Wever,
Adélaïde Charlier, Holly Gillibrand and
Alexandria Villaseñor
Alexandria Villaseñor (born 2005) is an American climate activist living in New York. A follower of the Fridays for Future movement and of fellow climate activist Greta Thunberg, Villaseñor is a co-founder of U.S. Youth Climate Strike and the ...
, reiterated their reasons for striking. In November 2020 Holly Gillibrand was included in the
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...
Woman's Hour
''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946.
History
Created by Norman Collins and originally presented ...
Power list 2020.
In Germany, more than pupils demonstrated in 230 cities with more than in Berlin alone.
In Italy more than students demonstrated ( in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
according to the organisers). In Montreal more than attended; Stockholm to , Melbourne , Brussels , and Munich . Other cities included Paris, London, Washington, Reykjavík, Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Tokyo.
In Antarctica, at least seven scientists held a supportive rally at the
Neumayer-Station III
Neumayer-Station III, also known as Neumayer III after geophysicist Georg von Neumayer, is a German Antarctic research station of the Alfred-Wegener-Institut. It is located on the approximately thick Ekström Ice Shelf several kilometres south ...
of
Alfred Wegener Institute.
In
Christchurch
Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
, New Zealand, the strike was abandoned for safety reasons, after
a gunman opened fire on two nearby mosques and killed 51 people.
File:Koululakko ilmaston puolesta 20190315.jpg, School Strike for Climate in front of the Parliament House, Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, 15 March 2019
File:Activist Alienor Rougeot-Fridays for future;march 15-2019;Photographer Dina Dong.jpg, "Fridays for Future" 15 March Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
File:San Francisco Youth Climate Strike - March 15, 2019 - 22.jpg, School strike in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
on 15 March 2019
File:Climate strike Cleveland Public Square 01.jpg, School strike in Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
on 15 March 2019
File:School Strike for Climate in Wellington 13.jpg, School strike for climate in Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
on 15 March 2019
File:Grève des lycéens contre le déréglement climatique à Dijon.jpg, A speech being delivered from the stairs of the Jardin Darcy, in Dijon
Dijon (, , ) (dated)
* it, Digione
* la, Diviō or
* lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920.
The earlies ...
(Côte-d'Or
Côte-d'Or (; literally, "Golden Slope") is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.[Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...]
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
) for the global climate strike on 15 March 2019
Second Global Climate Strike on 24 May 2019
![Stuttgart Fridays for future Frontbanner 20190524 yj](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Stuttgart_Fridays_for_future_Frontbanner_20190524_yj.jpg)
A second wave of global climate strikes began with actions in New Zealand and Australia on 24 May 2019. Hundreds of thousands of school students around the world struck in more than 1600 towns in at least 125 countries.
Thunberg, one of the organizers, said that the strike took place on the second day of the four-day
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peop ...
in order to affect it.
Polls conducted at the time show that climate change was an important issue for voters in the election—the most important issue for German voters.
International climate strike in Aachen on 21 June 2019
Fridays for Future Deutschland called for a major climate strike under the motto "Climate justice without borders – United for a future" also inviting people from 17 countries to come to
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...
on 21 June 2019. Protesters gathered at several points all over the city (including at
Aachen main station,
Westpark,
RWTH and
Vaals
Vaals (; Ripuarian: ) is a town in the extreme southeastern part of the Dutch province of Limburg, which is in the southeastern part of the Netherlands.
The municipality covers an area of in the foothills of the Ardennes–Eifelrange ...
) representing different chapters of the movement.
Accompanied by several musical groups, they then walked or drove with bicycles through the streets to the main event at the
Tivoli, thereby blocking larger parts of the traffic infrastructure for hours. Some protesters occupied a house, a bridge and several poles to raise large posters. A number of to people was anticipated. According to the organizers, with eventually protesters this peaceful event turned out to be the largest single FFF climate strike in a German city that far.
The police acknowledged the originally anticipated numbers.
Among the many speakers were
Cyril Dion
Cyril Dion is a French writer, film director, poet, and activist.
Early life and education
After studying at the École d'art dramatique Jean-Périmony (drama school) and a very brief career as an actor, Cyril Dion coordinated projects for the ...
(France),
Karen Raymond (India), Tetet Nera-Lauron (Philippines) and Jesse (Netherlands), Milan Schwarze and Sina Chom (Ende Gelände),
as well as activists from the
Hambach Forest
Hambach Forest (german: Hambacher Wald, Hambacher Forst (), Bürgewald, Die Bürge) is an ancient forest located near in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, between Cologne and Aachen. It was planned to be cleared as part of the Hambach s ...
,
Pacific Climate Warriors
Pacific Climate Warriors, or 350 Pacific, is a grassroots movement for climate justice from the Pacific island states, which has been part of the global environmental organization 350.org since 2011.
Approach
The Pacific Climate Warriors are ad ...
,
(English: ''All villages stay!'') and ''All In for Climate Action''. Artists participating in the event included Brass Riot,
Culcha Candela
Culcha Candela is a dancehall, hip hop, house and reggae group from Berlin, Germany. Sources say they formed at different times but in the range of 2001–2003. Their lyrics range from political issues, such as "Una Cosa" or "Schöne, neue Welt" ...
,
,
Moop Mama
Moop Mama is a brass band based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The ten-person group includes two percussionists and a rapping, rapper, and was founded in 2009. They describe their style as urban brass, mixing hip hop and the music of traditional m ...
,
Ruslana Lyzhychko
Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko ( uk, Руслана Степанівна Лижичко, ''Ruslana Lyzhychko''; born 24 May 1973), known mononymous person, mononymously as Ruslana, is a World Music Awards, World Music Award and Eurovision Song Co ...
,
KingzCorner,
Leo Holldack and
Davide Martello
Davide Martello, also known as ''Klavierkunst'' (born 1 November 1981 in Lörrach in the southwest of Baden-Württemberg), is a German pianist of Italian descent. He was raised in Tuningen, between the Black Forest and the Swabian Jura.
He is kno ...
. Among the protesters were
Rezo and
Anton Hofreiter
Anton "Toni" Hofreiter (born 2 February 1970) is a German politician who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since the 2005 elections.
Political career
As a member of Alliance 90/The Greens, Hofreiter has been a member of the Bundes ...
.
In parallel to this event, a group of
Ende Gelände 2019
Ende Gelände 2019 was a series of large-scale events of a movement for climate justice in Germany.
As a continuation of the previous year's actions, the non-violent direct action civil disobedience events targeted the coal-fired power plant ...
activists started protests at the nearby
Garzweiler II
The Tagebau Garzweiler is a surface mine (german: Tagebau) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite. The mine currently has a size of 48 km² and got its name from the village of wh ...
open-pit lignite mine, blocking various mining infrastructure over the weekend.
FFFD had recently declared its
solidarity
''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...
with this movement, stating that under the circumstances
civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
would be a legitimate form of protest to save the future, but, organizing another demonstration on 22 June 2019 in
Hochneukirch/
Jüchen
Jüchen is a municipality in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km southwest of Neuss and 10 km southeast of Mönchengladbach.
Mayor
Harald Zillikens (* 1959) (CDU) was elected may ...
in the direct neighborhood of the open-pit mine,
that Fridays for Future would remain on the
legal
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
side.
On 19 June 2019, shortly before the events, the city of Aachen had followed several other German cities and declared a "
climate emergency" state.
International conference in Lausanne on 5–9 August 2019
From 5 to 9 August 2019, the
University of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...
hosted 450 young Europeans from the climate strike movement for the "SMILE for Future" conference ("Summer Meeting in
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
Europe").
On 9 August 2019, the conference ended with a demonstration and the publication of the ''Lausanne Climate Declaration'' stating the values, objectives and measures proposed by the movements' participants in Lausanne.
Global Week of Climate Action on 20–27 September 2019
![20–27 September Climate strikes attendee numbers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/20%E2%80%9327_September_Climate_strikes_attendee_numbers.svg)
The September Global Week for Climate Action was a series of strikes and events from 20 to 27 September 2019, primarily focused on the two Fridays 20 and 27 September. Timed to occur around the
UN Climate Action Summit on 23 September,
the protests were planned in 4500 locations across 150 countries.
Organizers of 20 September protests reported that over 4 million people participated in strikes worldwide,
including 1.4 million participants in Germany and protesters in Australia. On 27 September, an estimated two million people participated in demonstrations worldwide, including over one million protesters in Italy and several hundred thousand protesters in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
.
Fourth Global Climate Strike on 29 November 2019
On 29 November 2019, three days before the start of the
United Nations Climate Change Conference
The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties (Conference of the Parties, ...
(COP25) in Madrid, demonstrations took place in 2,400 cities across 157 countries to protest government inaction on the climate crisis. The organizers estimated the number of participants at 2 million, including about people in Germany.
A week later, the central COP25 protest took place in Madrid, with an estimated turnout of half a million, in which FFF activists from all over the world participated.
Later events, 2020s
Global Climate Strike on 25 September 2020
On 25 September 2020, a global climate strike took place. Strikes were scheduled in thousands of locations around the globe.
Global Climate Strike on 19 March 2021
On Friday 19 March 2021, another global climate strike saw protests in hundreds of places around the planet; due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the scale of in-person gatherings was much reduced compared to previous years.
Dissolution of Auckland chapter in June 2021
On 15 June 2021, the
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
chapter of New Zealand's School Strike 4 Climate movement formally disbanded on the grounds that it had been racist towards BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour). The group said that it would no longer organise strikes and instead pledged to "uplift BIPOC-led climate justice spaces." The dissolution of the Auckland chapter of the NZ School Strike movement drew mixed responses. Mary Moeono-Kolio, the Wellington coordinator of 350 Pacific Climate Warriors, and School Strike founder and national coordinator Sophie Hanford stated there was no room for racists in the climate movement and called for indigenous leadership on climate justice. Indigenous youth climate advocacy group Te Ara Whatu spokesperson Anevili welcomed the decision as a means of tackling racism but expressed concerned that activists of colour could be blamed for the Auckland chapter's dissolution.
Global Climate Strike on 24 September 2021
![20210924 xl 115634827](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/20210924_xl_115634827.MP_PXL-Global-Climate-Strike-in-Berlin-on-24-September-2021.jpg)
On 24 September 2021 strikes were scheduled in more than 1400 locations around the globe. Strikes were held in more than 90 countries with big events in Europe, America and Africa. Some of the largest demonstrations were held in Germany. Greta Thunberg addressed more than 100,000 people in Berlin and declared that "No political party is doing enough".
Global Climate Strike on 25 March 2022
On 25 March 2022, a global climate strike took place.
Global Climate Strike on 23 September 2022
On 23 September 2022, a global climate strike took place. More than 30,000 people took part in Berlin.
Digital climate strike
The climate strike online movement, sometimes referred to as "digital strike", was started by two Asian-American climate activists, Iris Zhan and George Zhang from Howard County, Maryland, United States in April 2019. This branch of climate striking was created in order to make climate activism accessible to those unable to strike physically. In March 2020, following the outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Greta Thunberg encouraged the movement to not gather in the streets or town squares, but to instead sit at home with a sign and post the image on the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. The movement has since amassed notable popularity due to restrictions passed regarding large gatherings during the
COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countrie ...
, receiving attention from organizations such as
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
and
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
.
Since its formation, the Fridays for Future Digital movement has engaged in a series of campaigns aimed at raising awareness of various
climate justice
Climate justice is a concept that addresses the just division, fair sharing, and equitable distribution of the burdens of climate change and its mitigation and responsibilities to deal with climate change. "Justice", "fairness", and "equity" ar ...
issues. These include efforts to teach
climate change education Climate change education (CCE) is education that aims to address and develop effective responses to climate change. It helps learners understand the causes and consequences of climate change, prepares them to live with the impacts of climate change ...
in schools and protect
indigenous climate activists from harmful government policies.
Scientific background
It is
accepted by the vast majority of scientists that the greenhouse effect which warms Earth is much increased by emission of vast amounts of
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...
and some other gases by human activities. In the historical past the greenhouse effect, driven by volcanic and microbial
carbon dioxide emission
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...
, prevented the earth from being
permanently encased in ice, but since humanity industrialised, atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased and is causing ever more harmful global warming and climate change. The only processes that take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere (once takeup by acidifying the oceans is saturated) are geological—locking up of carbon by weathering and formation of rocks as carbonates and other compounds, on a timescale of hundreds of thousands of years—and botanical, uptake of carbon by vegetation, locking it up unless the vegetation burns or rots without being replaced, on a timescale of, at best, centuries.
Adults in positions of authority, in the form of fossil fuel corporations and global governments, are seen as being responsible for large carbon dioxide emissions, and doing far too little to reduce them. A 2019 statement by over 12,000 scientists says that "Young people’s concerns are justified and supported by the best available science".
Support from scientists
![Scientists for Future 20190315](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Scientists_for_Future_20190315.JPG)
On 31 January 2019, more than Belgian scientists and academics signed an
open letter
An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
in support of the school strikes.
The letter reads "On the basis of the facts supplied by climate science, the campaigners are right. That is why we, as scientists, support them."
This was followed by an open letter in support of the school strikes in the Netherlands, signed by 340 scientists,
and by researchers in Finland signing a letter, on 11 March 2019, supporting the strikes. An article published in
''Nature'' in March 2019 listed many other expressions of support, and no criticisms, from scientists, with comments such as "The idea of a climate strike is innovative. It’s provocative, and I think it’s the right form of non-violent civil disobedience".
In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland a group of scientists founded ''
Scientists for Future
Scientists for Future (S4F) is an international environmental initiative founded by a group of scientists in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in support of the student movement Fridays for Future (FFF).
In March 2019 the initiative issued a ...
'' (S4F) in support of the factual correctness of the claims formulated by the movement. The statement was signed by over German-language scientists and scholars.
On 14 March 2019, the
Club of Rome
The Club of Rome is a nonprofit, informal organization of intellectuals and business leaders whose goal is a critical discussion of pressing global issues. The Club of Rome was founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy. It consists ...
issued an official statement in support of Thunberg and the strikes, urging governments across the world to respond to this call for action and cut global carbon emissions.
In early April 2019, a letter titled "Concerns of young protesters are justified" was published in ''
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
''. The letter declared that the climate strikers' concerns are "justified and supported by the best available science" and was signed by over scientists worldwide.
In June 2019, healthcare professionals in the UK and elsewhere, including professors, eminent public health figures, and former presidents of royal colleges, called for widespread non-violent civil disobedience in response to "woefully inadequate" government policies on the unfolding ecological emergency. They called on politicians and the news media to face the facts of the unfolding ecological emergency and take action. They supported the school strike movement and Extinction Rebellion.
On 14 October 2020, FFF Germany released a report from the
Wuppertal Institute
The Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy (official German name: ) is a German research institution for sustainability research focusing on impacts and practical application. It explores and develops models, strategies and in ...
it had earlier commissioned.
[ Released 14 October 2020. ] The underlying numerical study utilized
scenario analysis
Scenario planning, scenario thinking, scenario analysis, scenario prediction and the scenario method all describe a strategic planning method that some organizations use to make flexible long-term plans. It is in large part an adaptation and gener ...
to articulate a credible pathway for Germany to be carbon neutral by 2035.
Reactions by schools, politicians, and parents
![2019-09-24 Klimademonstration in Dili](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/2019-09-24_Klimademonstration_in_Dili.jpg)
The strikes have been both praised and criticised by adults in positions of authority. In the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, the movement enjoyed significant support by the pan-European party
Volt Europa
Volt Europa (frequently abbreviated as Volt) is a pro-European and European federalist political movement that also serves as the pan-European structure for subsidiary parties in several EU member states. Volt candidates stood on a common, pan- ...
which, according to a report by Parents for Future before the
European Elections 2019, shared all demands published by Fridays For Future in April 2019.
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
politicians in the United Kingdom and Australia have described the strikes as
truancy
Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorised, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will (though sometimes adults or parents will allow and/or ignore it) and usually does not refe ...
; some children have been punished or arrested for striking or demonstrating. Then UK Prime Minister
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
criticised the strikes as wasting lesson and teaching time.
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
, former leader of the
Labour Party and
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
, and
Sir Vincent Cable, Leader of the
Liberal Democrats, both voiced their support for the strikes, as did leaders of other UK parties. UK energy minister
Claire Perry
Claire Louise Perry O'Neill (' Richens; born 3 April 1964) is a British businesswoman and former politician who is the managing director for climate and energy at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, having previously served a ...
said that she would have joined the strikes in her younger days. David Reed, director of charity Generation Change, pointed out that "the school leaders seem to have missed the point of efforts over the past decade to raise education standards. For what does excellence in education look like if it’s not pupils being engaged enough on issues such as climate change to do something about them?"
Prime Minister of Australia
Scott Morrison called for "more learning and less activism" following the strikes. Australia's Education Minister
Dan Tehan said that if school students think that issues are important, they should take action after school or on weekends.
In New Zealand, there was mixed response from politicians, community leaders, and schools. Students were threatened to be marked as truant by some principals for attending the strike without their parents' or school's permission.
Judith Collins
Judith Anne Collins (born 24 February 1959) is a New Zealand politician who served as the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 14 July 2020 to 25 November 2021. She was the second female Leader of the Natio ...
, and several other Members of Parliament were dismissive of the impact of the strike, while Climate Change Minister
James Shaw expressed support noting that little attention would be paid to marchers protesting on the weekend.
![Fridays for Future](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Fridays_for_Future.jpg)
On 15 March 2019 the Secretary-General of the United Nations, UN General Secretary António Guterres embraced the strikers, admitting that "My generation has failed to respond properly to the dramatic challenge of climate change. This is deeply felt by young people. No wonder they are angry." Guterres invited world leaders to a UN summit in September 2019 with "concrete realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020".
Many parents, including public figures, have supported the children's climate strikes. A spokesperson for the "Our Kids’ Climate" organization says that "an adult’s presence can help keep strikers safe," and "suggests bringing a sign that will resonate with other parents, for example a sign that says “I’m a concerned mom.” Moms Clean Air Force recommends contacting school officials, providing snacks for the children, and standing with signs in solidarity.
The Elders Climate Action organization has created T-shirts which feature a grandparent hand in hand with a child, and seeks to mobilize "grandparents, great aunts and great uncles ... while there is still time to protect the well-being of our grandchildren.
Showing a trend of new environment-related dictionary terms, "climate strike" was named Collins English Dictionary, Collins Dictionary’s 2019 word of the year.
[ Collins lexicographers had noticed a hundredfold increase in the use of the term in 2019, the largest of any word on their list.]
Censorship
India
In July 2020, the website of the Indian collective of Fridays for Future groups was blocked by the Government of India. The groups were leading a campaign against a controversial new EIA Draft proposed by the government.
Awards
On 7 June 2019, Fridays for Future and Greta Thunberg were honoured with Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
's Ambassador of Conscience Award. Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said:
We are humbled and inspired by the determination with which youth activists across the world are challenging us all to confront the realities of the climate crisis. Every young person taking part in Fridays for Future embodies what it means to act on your conscience. They remind us that we are more powerful than we know and that we all have a role to play in protecting human rights against climate catastrophe.
See also
* Climate justice
* Earth Strike
* Individual action on climate change
* List of school climate strikes
* Youth activism
Explanatory notes
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Climate change protests
Student strikes
Direct action
2018 protests
2019 protests
2020 protests
2021 protests
2018 in the environment
2019 in the environment
2020 in the environment
2021 in the environment
Greta Thunberg
Articles containing video clips
Friday observances