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Climate activists once again urge governments to act on warming in the streets

2020-09-25T19:29:37.481Z


Young people protest in more than 150 countries to demand "climate justice" Greta Thunberg at this Friday's protest in front of the Swedish Parliament.JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP The young climate activists have taken to the streets again this Friday. Convened by the Fridays for Future movement and the young Swede Greta Thunberg, the protest demanded action from governments against warming and climate justice. Organizers estimate that some 3,500 actions have taken place in


Greta Thunberg at this Friday's protest in front of the Swedish Parliament.JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP

The young climate activists have taken to the streets again this Friday.

Convened by the Fridays for Future movement and the young Swede Greta Thunberg, the protest demanded action from governments against warming and climate justice.

Organizers estimate that some 3,500 actions have taken place in more than 150 countries in the first major climate protest to take place since the start of the pandemic.

However, the one on September 25 had nothing to do with the number of participants in the massive demonstrations of a year ago, which brought together millions of people around the planet.

In Stockholm, Thunberg and a handful of members of the climate movement have met in front of Parliament.

“We need to treat the climate crisis as a crisis.

The climate crisis has never been treated as a crisis, ”Thunberg said in a statement collected by Reuters.

The restrictions imposed by the countries in the face of the pandemic have meant that the concentrations this Friday have brought together few people in most cases or, even, that they have been virtual protests.

In Madrid, some 200 people have gathered in a sit-in in front of the Congress.

A large sign posted on the sidewalk read: "in the face of the emergency, everyone for the weather."

Two of the activists who have participated have been Paula García and Carlos Ruiz, both 22 years old.

"We want to continue fighting for the climate emergency, it is the nucleus of many of the problems that affect us all," explained García. "That is why we are here," Ruiz added.

The protest in Madrid, as has happened in many other parts of the world, has had to follow security measures due to covid-19.

The organizers asked through social networks that attendees wear a mask, hydroalcoholic gel and, if possible, avoid public transport to get there.

About twenty organizers have served as ushers to place people on crosses painted with colored chalk on the tiles, all separated by 1.5 meters apart.

"The treasure is in the x's", one of the volunteers shouted humorously.

Meanwhile, a spokesman harangued with a microphone and a loudspeaker: "Planet, listen, we are your fight", "gentlemen, deputies, what about the degrees?"

or “it shows, it feels, the earth is hot”.

The coronavirus has forced the most important events for the environment to be delayed, such as the Glasgow Climate Summit (COP 26).

Lucas Barrero, one of the founders of the Fridays for Future movement in Spain, believes that the pandemic has banished the environmental emergency from the media agenda.

He affirms that now is the ideal time to return to the streets, always safely.

“[The coronavirus] was the most urgent problem, but it is time to resume the fight for the climate.

He cannot wait any longer ”.

Alexandre Salas, 24, also a participant in the Madrid sit-in, agrees with Barrero: “The coronavirus health crisis has revealed to us that we need to change our system and with political will, it is possible.

I think it is an opportunity to launch into a green transition ”.

Although in most cases the protests have had limited attendance, this has not happened in Berlin, where the streets have been filled this Friday.

In the German capital, 21,000 people, according to the organizers, and 8,000, according to the police estimate given to this newspaper, went out to protest by bike and on foot to demand action from politicians.

In total, the Fridays for Future movement had called for 400 protests across Germany.

Thousands of people demonstrated in cities such as Hamburg, Cologne or Bremen, in a country where the environmental movement has gained a lot of strength in recent months on the streets and also in politics and where the Greens are the second force in intention of vote, according to polls.

The Brandenburg Gate, in the heart of Berlin, on Friday noon has become a party for young and old with masks.

A music group has encouraged the massive protest.

Sitting on the wet floor, Benjamin O., 29, explained that he had joined the green tide because he wants to "show politicians what citizens really care about."

This young freelance computer scientist claimed that he preferred to lose clients this Friday rather than miss the Fridays for Future appointment.

“We don't need more negotiations, we need action.

The world is burning and more and more people are losing their homes to the weather.

We now have almost no room for maneuver, ”he interpreted, conveying a sense of urgency in the face of the climate crisis shared by many of the young people who take to the streets in Germany.

"Politicians have to open their eyes."

A few meters from there, an endless bicycle march went through the German capital to ask for the reduction of polluting gas emissions.

Source: elparis

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