School Strike for Climate

Yesterday, March 15th 2019, was a global strike day during which students around the world rallied in the streets to demand action to fight climate change. The instigator of the movement is 16 year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden. Back at the beginning of the school year, she began skipping school every Friday to go protest in front of the Parliament building. Known under various names such as Fridays for Future, Youth for Climate or Youth Strike 4 Climate, these organized protests have quickly gained the support and interest of students from countries in every continent.

I have been sensitive to the state of the environment for as long as I can remember and recently, when I read the news, I find myself in tears sometimes. It just makes me feel bitterly sad and angry to not hear of our governments in action. They say they care, but only so as not to lose their faces. I participated in the march yesterday, I shouted with the rest of them, I saw the massive crowd march down the streets on that warm March afternoon. In recent weeks, my city has become increasingly mobilized, also holding weekly strikes on Fridays.

If you are reading this, I ask you to think of your future, your children's future, the planet's future. We cannot continue like this, or we will face worse consequences. I leave you with these words:

"We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. If solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then we should change the system itself. We have not come here to beg world leaders to care, we have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people."

- Greta Thunberg