Slogans of ‘Friday for the future’ and ‘extinction rebellion’ resonated throughout the globe on March 15. This is a rebellion generated by the students against an inevitable extinction, if action is not taken promptly. Immediate intervention is necessary to limit carbon emissions to 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The young rebels who are just school children, gave a call for ‘Friday Bunking’ of classes. The movement was started by Greta Thunberg a 16-year-old student from Sweden. Since then, the growing protest has seen students from around the world skip classes and take to the streets to protest inaction over climate change.
More than 1.6 million school students bunked their classes to raise the alarm about climate change. Demonstrations were held in 2,087 places in 125 countries across the globe.
It became one of the largest participatory events on climate change in recent times. Some of the cities in Europe reported participation of over 10,000 students in the ‘Friday’ demonstrations.
Some of the astounding mobilisations in the cities across the globe were:
In Melbourne, Australia 40,000 students participated, while Sydney hosted 30,000 students. In Vienna, Austria, 10,000 students took part in the protest, Montreal city in Canada had the largest participation of 150,000. Vantaa, a small town in Finland saw more than 5,000 students participating.
Three cities in France — Lyon, Nantes and Paris saw a participation of 15,000, 11,000 and 50,000 students respectively . Berlin and Cologne in Germany saw 25,000 and 10,000 students’ participation respectively.
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Dublin in Ireland witnessed 10,000 students bunking their classes. In Italy, Bologna recorded 10,000, Desio saw 41,000, Milan witnessed 100,000, while Rome recorded 30,000 students mobilise. Luxembourg saw more than 15,000 school students participate in the campaign;
Lisbon in Portugal had 10,000 students, Barcelona in Spain witnessed an attendance of more than 10,000 , In Stockholm, Sweden nearly 15,000 students bunked their classes.
Genf and Zurich in Switzerland saw a mobilisation of 15,000 and 13,000 respectively. London witnessed 15,000 students participation.
The movement built from bottom-up has sparked a new consciousness in the world. The consciousness of the young who are not prepared to accept the status quo in the system. They are hell-bent to break the inertia which has existed for long. The young want to witness a change which is not restricted to conferences but which is experienced through strong actions. They want to see a change which is evident on the ground not just in theory, but in practice— a change for a secure and safe world!
Phil McDuff wrote an article in The Guardian on March 18, a few days after the Friday campaign. It is titled ‘Ending climate change requires the end of capitalism‘. Have we got the stomach for it.’ Phil refers to the Friday for the future campaign as a turbulent event. Climate change activism is increasingly becoming the domain of the young in these times.
Drawing confidence from the movement, he wrote, “Today’s children, as they become more politically aware, will be much more radical than their parents, simply because there will be no other choice for them. This emergent radicalism is already taking people by surprise. The Green New Deal (GND), a term presently most associated with 29-year-old US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has provoked a wildly unhinged backlash from the “pro free market” wing, who argue that it’s a Trojan horse, nothing more than an attempt to piggyback Marxism onto the back of climate legislation.”
The reality is not hidden anymore! It is not a hidden fact that the urgency needed at COP 24 in Katowice was missing and now with ‘just 12 years left to act’ to cut emissions, according to an IPCC report, it is all the more alarming. The situation is all the more vulnerable with two important players in the world being smug about their commitments, the.
In New Delhi, Gurgaon and other cities in India, students of various schools bunked their classes and held an affirmative demonstration. In New Delhi, the demonstration was held at Rajiv Chowk, the business hub of the capital.
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The campaign in Delhi linked the issue of air pollution as well. It may be noted that 15 of the 20 most polluted cities of the world are in India. The slogans read, “We are joining #climatestrike from Delhi… We demand clean air, water and soils for our safe future. #fridayforfuture.”
Students bunked their classes and came to the protests in their school uniforms. At a few places, parents also accompanied them. The students said that they are not prepared to accept the present situation and chanted slogans like “my right to breathe”.
New Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in India, where PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels cross 500 ugm-3, whereas the permissible limit is 0-50 for PM 2.5 and 0-100 for PM10. The worst affected are infant and children who develop respiratory disorders.
The connection between greenhouse gases that are emitted from burning fossil fuels and pollution in cities is linked. Hence, the ongoing fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was linked quite innovatively with air pollution at the New Delhi protest.
‘Friday for Future’ offers a ray of hope and a spark of confidence that the impending struggle around the globe to save the planet has a potential future. As of now, it is at a very radical stage.
Organised students movements in the world must also ponder over the issue of climate change. At the moment, they are generally aloof of it!