THOUSANDS of children across the world will leave their schools for a strike over climate change this Friday. Organisers expect the protest to dwarf last month鈥檚 demonstrations.
The roots of this phenomenon run back to Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old from Sweden. She has missed school to sit outside the Swedish parliament almost every Friday since last August, demanding politicians bring the country into line with the Paris climate agreement.
Between Greta鈥檚 studies, she has berated delegates at last year鈥檚 UN climate talks, spent up to two days a week speaking to journalists and generated a viral social media wave under the #FridaysForFuture banner.
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Greta had no expectations that her protest would snowball. 鈥淭he idea was to sit outside the Swedish parliament for three weeks. I think the timing and the concept must have been right,鈥� she told 快猫短视频.
鈥淚 think we have reached a tipping point where enough scientists are telling it like it is鈥�
Being the strikes鈥� de facto spokesperson isn鈥檛 something she particularly enjoys and she doesn鈥檛 care about fame, she says. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 mind it either as long as it is for a good cause.鈥� After learning about climate change when she was 8, Greta later developed depression when she was 11, which she links partly to the issue.
The success of the strikes is to some extent driven by climate science becoming more candid and increasingly dire, says Greta. 鈥淚 think we have reached a tipping point where enough scientists are telling it like it is and not being so afraid of being alarmist.鈥�
But she is disappointed that a lot of the discussion resulting from the strikes isn鈥檛 about ramping up climate action, but about the children themselves. 鈥淭hey talk about our age, our looks and so on. The emissions are still rising and that is all that matters. Nothing has happened, that is crucial to remember.鈥�
More than 10,000 children went on strike across the UK in February, packing London鈥檚 Parliament Square and eliciting messages of support from ministers and members of parliament.
Campaigners believe that more than 1000 towns and cities in nearly 100 countries will take part in a strike this Friday as the movement jumps from a largely European one to a global level.
鈥淭he use of social media is helping it move very fast, that鈥檚 really powerful,鈥� says Beth Irving, 17, who is studying near Cardiff, UK, and organising a demonstration there. Facebook and WhatsApp have helped her connect like-minded pupils and students who have never met.
In the UK, events are expected in more than 100 towns and cities. Some schools have organised their own marches and are allowing young children to attend bigger protests with their parents.
Guilty adults
Sophie Sleeman, a 17-year-old at Exeter College, UK, says part of the power of the strikes is that they subvert the idea of unruly teenagers always being told off, turning the spotlight on teachers, parents and politicians instead. 鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 making adults a bit guilty,鈥� she says.
Beth and Sophie both say they are driven by a desire to do more than just raise awareness: they are demanding action.
鈥淭he focus of these protests is 鈥榙o something鈥�,鈥� says Brian Doherty of Keele University, UK, who has studied the history of environmental activism.
The school strikes, along with the rise of the Extinction Rebellion civil disobedience movement, are different from previous climate campaigning, which focused around summits and their build-up, he says.
It is hard to tease out how much the protests were driven by Greta鈥檚 leadership, says Doherty, and how much by a drumbeat of stark science, such as the UN climate science panel鈥檚 report last year on the drastic action required if we are to limit global temperature rises to 1.5掳C above pre-industrial levels.
鈥淢y sense is the bad news was quite a significant catalyst and that begins to explain why you get this type of protest,鈥� says Doherty. What is striking, he says, is how many children on social media make direct references to the science, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change鈥檚 1.5掳C report.
Graeme Hayes of Aston University, UK, says that although the country鈥檚 children have protested before, such as over the Iraq war, the current wave of climate strikes involves younger children, not just older teenagers.
Greta鈥檚 strike movement is an enormous achievement, says Hayes. 鈥淐hildren have this capacity to say things adults don鈥檛, we see this in [the tale of] The Emperor鈥檚 New Clothes. This is what鈥檚 happening here,鈥� says Hayes.
But he isn鈥檛 sure how long the movement can continue at this pace. Greta says she doesn鈥檛 know how long she will keep going. 鈥淲e will have to go for a very, very long time, I think,鈥� she says.
