Young activists shout slogans on stage after Greta Thunberg (not in the picture) took part in the plenary session during the COP25 Climate Conference on December 11, 2019 in Madrid, Spain. The COP25 conference brings together world leaders, climate activists, NGOs, indigenous people and others for two weeks in an effort to focus global policy makers on concrete steps for heading off a further rise in global temperatures. (Photo: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images)
'We Are Unstoppable, Another World Is Possible!': Young Climate Activists Storm COP 25 Stage
Protesters with Fridays for Future demand world leaders at the global climate summit urgent address the planetary emergency.
This story may be updated.
Young activists took over and occupied the main stage at the COP 25 climate conference in Madrid, Spain Wednesday and demanded world leaders commit to far more ambitious action to address the ecological emergency.
"Nobody has ever done an action like this before," said youth climate striker Dylan Hamilton of Scotland, "the times are changing."
Video posted by Brussels-based climate activist Damien Thomson shows protesters with Fridays for Future walking onto the stage and siting down. The group's chants included, "What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now!"
They also shouted, "We are unstoppable, another world is possible!"
"World leaders have left us no choice," said 14-year-old Alexandria Villasenor of New York about the sit-in.
U.N. security threatened to "de-badge" the activists unless they left the stage.
The action took place after a plenary that included speeches from teen activist and newly-minted Time Person of the Year Greta Thunberg of Sweden and youth climate activist Hilda Flavia Nakabuye of Uganda.
"I am the voice of dying children, misplaced women, and people suffering at the hands of the climate crisis created by rich countries," Nakabuye told the audience.
Reacting to the sit-in, author and climate act Bill McKibben said on Twitter, "Time for negotiators to face the people whose lives they are negotiating away."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
This story may be updated.
Young activists took over and occupied the main stage at the COP 25 climate conference in Madrid, Spain Wednesday and demanded world leaders commit to far more ambitious action to address the ecological emergency.
"Nobody has ever done an action like this before," said youth climate striker Dylan Hamilton of Scotland, "the times are changing."
Video posted by Brussels-based climate activist Damien Thomson shows protesters with Fridays for Future walking onto the stage and siting down. The group's chants included, "What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now!"
They also shouted, "We are unstoppable, another world is possible!"
"World leaders have left us no choice," said 14-year-old Alexandria Villasenor of New York about the sit-in.
U.N. security threatened to "de-badge" the activists unless they left the stage.
The action took place after a plenary that included speeches from teen activist and newly-minted Time Person of the Year Greta Thunberg of Sweden and youth climate activist Hilda Flavia Nakabuye of Uganda.
"I am the voice of dying children, misplaced women, and people suffering at the hands of the climate crisis created by rich countries," Nakabuye told the audience.
Reacting to the sit-in, author and climate act Bill McKibben said on Twitter, "Time for negotiators to face the people whose lives they are negotiating away."
This story may be updated.
Young activists took over and occupied the main stage at the COP 25 climate conference in Madrid, Spain Wednesday and demanded world leaders commit to far more ambitious action to address the ecological emergency.
"Nobody has ever done an action like this before," said youth climate striker Dylan Hamilton of Scotland, "the times are changing."
Video posted by Brussels-based climate activist Damien Thomson shows protesters with Fridays for Future walking onto the stage and siting down. The group's chants included, "What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now!"
They also shouted, "We are unstoppable, another world is possible!"
"World leaders have left us no choice," said 14-year-old Alexandria Villasenor of New York about the sit-in.
U.N. security threatened to "de-badge" the activists unless they left the stage.
The action took place after a plenary that included speeches from teen activist and newly-minted Time Person of the Year Greta Thunberg of Sweden and youth climate activist Hilda Flavia Nakabuye of Uganda.
"I am the voice of dying children, misplaced women, and people suffering at the hands of the climate crisis created by rich countries," Nakabuye told the audience.
Reacting to the sit-in, author and climate act Bill McKibben said on Twitter, "Time for negotiators to face the people whose lives they are negotiating away."