“Our house is on fire,” reads the front page of a website that calls for an international statement to be made in the name of climate justice. A long running revolution was brought to the forefront of youth advocacy when sixteen year old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg spoke before a room of politicians and demanded that they recognize the multilateral and detrimental effects climate change has on our planet.
Thunberg has taken her fervent stance one step further: a Global Climate Strike that will protest the fossil fuel industry and the lack of governmental response to what is believed by experts to be a climate crisis.
This Friday, September 20th, marks the first of two strikes focused on recruiting young leaders to mobilize their student body to make public displays of protest-as manifested through walkouts, sit-ins, or on-campus organizing. Local business owners, workers, and unions are also expected to hit the streets to express their support.
Participants hope to leave a massive mark around the world that U.N. leaders cannot ignore during the 2019 U.N. Climate Summit, which is set to be held on the 23rd of September. Another global strike will occur on September 27th following the summit, as it is anticipated to be unlikely that the U.N. will come to a conclusion by the end of the day.
Check out https://globalclimatestrike.net/#faq for more information or to find a strike near you.