Students climate change strike to be held on Friday amid a pandemic
Greta Thunberg, a climate change activist, has called on schools to stage a climate change class walkout this coming Friday. This comes amidst a pandemic that has resulted in school closures and classes going online.
This comes a year after a similar demonstration was held around the world and over 6 million students participated globally. Thunberg, who was also a key speaker in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that year, made an appearance in New York demonstrations and addressed students who had made their way to a park, demanding that stern actions be taken to combat the climate change.
Thunberg’s call for climate change strike
In a statement this year, Thunberg said,
Extreme weather driven by the climate crisis is accelerating around the world, and yet we still don’t treat it as a crisis. We are in a global emergency that affects all of us. However, not everyone is suffering its consequences equally.
This year’s demonstration has indicated that it will be focussing solely on the MAPA( most affected people and areas). This will be a move away from a previous mantra that has been used in similar protests in the past, including last year called, the global south.
The climate change strike comes at a time where the world is engulfed in wildfires, such as the ones along the west coast of the US, hurricanes that have turned out to be the longest in decades, and a spike in irregular climate patterns.
Fridays for Future, an organization that was founded by Thunberg, indicated that even during a pandemic, the threat of climate change still remained real. They emphasized that, as countries reopen, the same policy that had been put in place and allowed to run, causing much destruction around the world will still be the ones that are used. Therefore, they urged participants that the fight for a better world, where leaders care about the climate was still on and people should join the movement.
This year’s strike, however, will be much different than last year. The UNGA meeting will mostly be virtual with muted microphones, and although the strikes are coinciding with the meeting, it may not be able to outshine last year’s strike. However, UNGA has indicated that it will make climate change a central focus during their meetings.
Kelvin Maina is a computer science graduate who has previously worked for top tech companies in Kenya. He has over five years of experience in Software Engineering and hardware solutions. He enjoys reading fictional writing, football and swimming.
