Focus on climate crisis
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Reporting on climate change is one of the major journalistic challenges of our time. The climate crisis is also one of the most important issues of humanity for SPIEGEL. For this reason, we support an international initiative that seeks to take a look this week: "Covering Climate Now" has been initiated by the Columbia Journalism Review and the Canadian newspaper "The Nation", with more than 200 media companies worldwide including the Guardian, El País, La Repubblica, The Times of India, Bloomberg or Vanity Fair. SPIEGEL is dedicating the cover story of the current issue to the climate crisis this week and every day pays special attention to mirror.de
Activist Greta Thunberg has celebrated the world's climate demonstrations as a "wave of change" in front of tens of thousands of people in New York. "We are not just a bunch of young people skipping school or a couple of adults who have not gone to work - we are a wave of change, we can not stop together," said the 16-year-old on Friday afternoon (local time ) in Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan.
"If you are one of the small group of people who feel threatened by us, then I have very bad news for you, because this is just the beginning, there will be changes, whether you like it or not."
Vanessa Carvalho / DPA
Greta Thunberg in New York: worldwide protests instigated
According to the organizers, around 250,000 people had come to the demonstration in New York, and the mayor's office of the city spoke of about 60,000. This is not a small thing for New York, but the metropolis has also seen much larger protest trains. The New York school administration had announced a few days ago that all absences on that day were excused.
Demos from Australia to Afghanistan
There were also demonstrations in other US cities, such as Washington, Boston or Portland. Previously, hundreds of thousands of people had already taken to the streets in various cities around the world. Called the youth movement Fridays for Future. Thunberg spoke of a "historical day". "This is the biggest climate strike in history and we should all be so proud of ourselves, because we did it together. (Read a minutes log of the Climate Day here)
The global demonstrations against global warming also involved young people in the Afghan capital Kabul, which was shaken almost daily by terrorist attacks.
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Several dozen young people demonstrated with posters saying, "Do not deny that our planet is dying any longer" and "Small hands can change the world". The march was protected by soldiers with rapid-fire guns.
The people of Kabul are not only suffering from the constant terrorist attacks with hundreds of dead and injured. The city is also plagued by smog, mainly because of the many coal burning stoves. Poor people also heat with plastic waste. Dangerous particulate matter exceeds the values set by the World Health Organization many times over.
In social media, the government is called to do more against air pollution. "If we survive terror attacks, car bombs or ambushes, this air pollution kills us," it said among other things.
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