Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, seeing little hope for a good outcome at COP24, just called for a global climate strike to take place Friday. (Screengrab/Twitter)
Dec 11, 2018
Greta Thunberg, the 15-year-old Swedish activist, on Wednesday called for a global climate strike. The day of action is set for Friday at "your school" or "anywhere you feel called."
Thunberg, who's made headlines for her now-weekly school strikes to urge her home country to take bold climate action, made the call from Katowice, Poland, where she's attending the COP24 climate talks, now in their second week.
Unfortunately, she said in her video announcing the strike, "as of now, there are no signs of commitment to climate action."
"Our emissions are still increasing. At the same time... the science has clearly told us that we need to act now to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of warming," she continued. "Whoever you are, wherever you are, we need you now to stand outside your parliament or local government office to let them know that we demand climate action."
\u201cClimate leaders don\u2019t just talk. \nThey act. \nJoin us!! \nGlobal climate strike 14 December. \nSpread the word!! \n#FridaysForFuture #ClimateStrike #ClimateChallenge #ClimateLeader #cop24 #schoolstrike4climate\u201d— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg) 1544629489
Her call has already gotten support from noted author and climate activist Bill McKibben. Praising her "terrific idea," McKibben said that while it's no small ask to urge young people to walk out of their classrooms, "kids who are in school today are going to spend the next 70 or 80 years dealing with an overheated world."
"The most important thing right now," he said, "is to start taking care of that. I am glad that we are seeing leadership from the youngest people."
\u201cThe nifty @GretaThunberg asked me to make a video supporting her call for a #climatestrike from school on Friday so politicians know kids are paying attention. So I did! Visit https://t.co/8zXHbpBTLI for details\nhttps://t.co/SY9xjrtg0Z\u201d— Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben) 1544639205
As a #ClimateStrike 2018 call-to-action explains:
Heat waves, floods, and hurricanes are killing hundreds and devastating communities across the world. Climate change is already a deadly reality. Governments are meeting for the U.N. climate talks right now in Poland, and despite the latest stark warning from climate scientists that we have only 12 years to reverse course, politicians are ignoring their call. What use is it learning facts if adults ignore them? That's why Greta and her fellow students are walking out of school to teach politicians a lesson in leadership.
Addressing world leaders as the climate conference kicked off, Thunberg said, "We have not come here to beg the world leaders to care for our future. They have ignored us in the past and they will ignore us again. We have come here to let them know that change is coming whether they like it or not. The people will rise to the challenge."
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Greta Thunberg, the 15-year-old Swedish activist, on Wednesday called for a global climate strike. The day of action is set for Friday at "your school" or "anywhere you feel called."
Thunberg, who's made headlines for her now-weekly school strikes to urge her home country to take bold climate action, made the call from Katowice, Poland, where she's attending the COP24 climate talks, now in their second week.
Unfortunately, she said in her video announcing the strike, "as of now, there are no signs of commitment to climate action."
"Our emissions are still increasing. At the same time... the science has clearly told us that we need to act now to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of warming," she continued. "Whoever you are, wherever you are, we need you now to stand outside your parliament or local government office to let them know that we demand climate action."
\u201cClimate leaders don\u2019t just talk. \nThey act. \nJoin us!! \nGlobal climate strike 14 December. \nSpread the word!! \n#FridaysForFuture #ClimateStrike #ClimateChallenge #ClimateLeader #cop24 #schoolstrike4climate\u201d— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg) 1544629489
Her call has already gotten support from noted author and climate activist Bill McKibben. Praising her "terrific idea," McKibben said that while it's no small ask to urge young people to walk out of their classrooms, "kids who are in school today are going to spend the next 70 or 80 years dealing with an overheated world."
"The most important thing right now," he said, "is to start taking care of that. I am glad that we are seeing leadership from the youngest people."
\u201cThe nifty @GretaThunberg asked me to make a video supporting her call for a #climatestrike from school on Friday so politicians know kids are paying attention. So I did! Visit https://t.co/8zXHbpBTLI for details\nhttps://t.co/SY9xjrtg0Z\u201d— Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben) 1544639205
As a #ClimateStrike 2018 call-to-action explains:
Heat waves, floods, and hurricanes are killing hundreds and devastating communities across the world. Climate change is already a deadly reality. Governments are meeting for the U.N. climate talks right now in Poland, and despite the latest stark warning from climate scientists that we have only 12 years to reverse course, politicians are ignoring their call. What use is it learning facts if adults ignore them? That's why Greta and her fellow students are walking out of school to teach politicians a lesson in leadership.
Addressing world leaders as the climate conference kicked off, Thunberg said, "We have not come here to beg the world leaders to care for our future. They have ignored us in the past and they will ignore us again. We have come here to let them know that change is coming whether they like it or not. The people will rise to the challenge."
Greta Thunberg, the 15-year-old Swedish activist, on Wednesday called for a global climate strike. The day of action is set for Friday at "your school" or "anywhere you feel called."
Thunberg, who's made headlines for her now-weekly school strikes to urge her home country to take bold climate action, made the call from Katowice, Poland, where she's attending the COP24 climate talks, now in their second week.
Unfortunately, she said in her video announcing the strike, "as of now, there are no signs of commitment to climate action."
"Our emissions are still increasing. At the same time... the science has clearly told us that we need to act now to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of warming," she continued. "Whoever you are, wherever you are, we need you now to stand outside your parliament or local government office to let them know that we demand climate action."
\u201cClimate leaders don\u2019t just talk. \nThey act. \nJoin us!! \nGlobal climate strike 14 December. \nSpread the word!! \n#FridaysForFuture #ClimateStrike #ClimateChallenge #ClimateLeader #cop24 #schoolstrike4climate\u201d— Greta Thunberg (@Greta Thunberg) 1544629489
Her call has already gotten support from noted author and climate activist Bill McKibben. Praising her "terrific idea," McKibben said that while it's no small ask to urge young people to walk out of their classrooms, "kids who are in school today are going to spend the next 70 or 80 years dealing with an overheated world."
"The most important thing right now," he said, "is to start taking care of that. I am glad that we are seeing leadership from the youngest people."
\u201cThe nifty @GretaThunberg asked me to make a video supporting her call for a #climatestrike from school on Friday so politicians know kids are paying attention. So I did! Visit https://t.co/8zXHbpBTLI for details\nhttps://t.co/SY9xjrtg0Z\u201d— Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben) 1544639205
As a #ClimateStrike 2018 call-to-action explains:
Heat waves, floods, and hurricanes are killing hundreds and devastating communities across the world. Climate change is already a deadly reality. Governments are meeting for the U.N. climate talks right now in Poland, and despite the latest stark warning from climate scientists that we have only 12 years to reverse course, politicians are ignoring their call. What use is it learning facts if adults ignore them? That's why Greta and her fellow students are walking out of school to teach politicians a lesson in leadership.
Addressing world leaders as the climate conference kicked off, Thunberg said, "We have not come here to beg the world leaders to care for our future. They have ignored us in the past and they will ignore us again. We have come here to let them know that change is coming whether they like it or not. The people will rise to the challenge."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.