SCHOOLS STRIKE FOR CLIMATE

SKOLSTREJK FOR KLIMATET IS NOW AN INTERNATIONAL YOUTH MOVEMENT OF SCHOOLS & STUDENTS PROTESTING BY STRIKING FOR THE CLIMATE CHANGE

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INNOVATORS 15th March 2019 - Schools students in more than 2000 cities worldwide are on climate strike today. Skolstrejk för klimatet (school strike for the climate) were the words on the placard young Swede Greta Thunberg, who was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, held high outside her school last year. That vital step has inspired a global movement of informed youngsters to stand with her in making it clear to policy makers that this is a generation that won’t tolerate climate inaction. This is the movement that can finally clear the bottle neck and accelerate the world towards a sustainable future. As Secretary-General of the UN António Guterres tweeted in response to the strike: ‘We need to heed their call’. #FridaysForFuture #climatestrike #ClimateAction

Greta was 15 years old when she started striking and insisting that her so-called guardians might do something positive. Although she gave it her best shot, along with millions more schoolchildren around the world, the politicians and industrialists would not listen to reason. Climate deniers are likely to be responsible for the mass murder of seven billion people, in a climopic genocide built on a financial eugenics programme to make billions of dollars exploiting planet earth at the expense of the human population.

The school strikes for climate, also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate, became an international movement of school students who take time off from class on Fridays to participate in demonstrations to demand action from political leaders to take action to prevent climate change and for the fossil fuel industry to transition to renewable energy.

Greta's activism began in August 2018, when her recurring and solitary Skolstrejk för klimatet ("School strike for the climate") protesting outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm began attracting media coverage.

Publicity and widespread organising began after Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg staged her protest outside the Swedish Riksdag (parliament), holding a sign that read "Skolstrejk för klimatet" ("School strike for climate").

School Strike for Climate, in Swedish: Skolstrejk för klimatet, is also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate, is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand action from political leaders to prevent climate change and for the fossil fuel industry to transition to renewable energy.

Publicity and widespread organising began after Swedish pupil Greta Thunberg staged a protest in August 2018 outside the Swedish Riksdag (parliament), holding a sign that read "Skolstrejk för klimatet" ("School strike for climate").

A global strike on 15 March 2019 gathered more than one million strikers in 2,200 strikes organised in 125 countries. On 24 May 2019, in the second global strike, 1,600 events across 150 countries drew hundreds of thousands of protesters. The events were timed to coincide with the 2019 European Parliament election.

The 2019 Global Week for Future was a series of 4,500 strikes across over 150 countries, focused around Friday 20 September and Friday 27 September. Likely the largest climate strikes in world history, the 20 September strikes gathered roughly 4 million protesters, many of them schoolchildren, including 1.4 million in Germany. On 27 September, an estimated two million people participated in demonstrations worldwide, including over one million protesters in Italy and several hundred thousand protesters in Canada.

EARLIER SCHOOL CLIMATE STRIKES 2005 >>>

In November 2006 the Australian Youth Climate Coalition was formed to organise climate change actions involving youth and school children. In 2010 in England there were school walkouts over climate change, linked to a Climate Camp. In late-November 2015, an independent group of students invited other students around the world to skip school on the first day of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. On 30 November, the first day of the conference, a "Climate strike" was organised in over 100 countries; over 50000 people participated. The movement focused on three demands: 100% clean energy; keeping fossil fuels in the ground, and helping climate refugees.

GERIATRIC POLICIES - There are some extremely sharp and competent youngsters rising from the ranks of the concerned protestors. Our hope is that when they reach voting age in their country they might decide on a career in politics. If they do, we'll vote for them - as no doubt will the millions of school protestors, and most likely, so will the other activists and worried parents, who want pollution free air for their children to breathe.

A fresh perspective, is one of the few ways of shaking the fossil fools from their branches. Fight them from within to expose the oil and coal bribes, and promote policies lawfully, by introducing legislation so that investors (shareholders) in coal and oil can see that their money is not safe, when they may decide to invest in clean technology.

Our next generations have a right to life and protection from inhumane treatment, where thousands are dying of hunger from desertification and displacement - and then there is lung cancer from breathing carcinogenic and diesel particulate exhaust fumes.

GRETA THUNBERG

On 20 August 2018, the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, then in ninth grade, decided to not attend school until the 2018 Sweden general election on 9 September after heat waves and wildfires in Sweden. She has said she was inspired by the teen activists at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who organised the March for Our Lives. Thunberg protested by sitting outside the Riksdag every day during school hours with a sign that read "Skolstrejk för klimatet" ("school strike for climate"). Among her demands were that the Swedish government reduce carbon emissions per the Paris Agreement. On 7 September, just before the general elections, she announced that she would continue to strike every Friday until Sweden aligns with the Paris Agreement. She coined the slogan FridaysForFuture, which gained worldwide attention, and inspired school students across the globe to take part in student strikes.

Thunberg traveled to New York City on a two-week journey by sailboat to continue calling attention to the work needed to address the climate crisis. She participated in school strikes being planned in the U.S on 20 September, and soon after she spoke at the UN Climate Summit on 23 September 2019, in New York City.

GROWING MOVEMENT 2019

Strikes began to be organised around the world, inspired by Thunberg, starting in November 2018. In Australia, thousands of students began to strike on Fridays, ignoring Prime Minister Scott Morrison's call for "more learning in schools and less activism". Galvanised by the COP24 Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland, strikes continued at least in 270 cities in December in countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In 2019, strikes were organised again in the countries listed above and in other countries, among them Colombia, New Zealand, and Uganda. Mass strikes took place on 17 and 18 January 2019, when at least 45000 students protested in Switzerland and Germany alone, against insufficient policies on global warming. In several countries, including Germany and the UK, pupils demanded the change of laws to reduce the voting age to 16 so that they could influence public elections in favour of the youth.

In Germany, regional groups were organised, communicating autonomously within WhatsApp groups and spreading their messages using flyers and social media. By February 2019, more than 155 local groups were counted by the movement. In the United States, organizers coordinated on a state-by-state level and communicated autonomously within Slack groups and spreading their messages using flyers and social media. By February 2019, more than 134 groups were counted by the movement. The organizations Sunrise Movement, 350.org, OneMillionOfUs, Earth Uprising, Future Coalition, Earth Guardians, Zero Hour, and Extinction Rebellion helped to coordinate.

The Belgian environment minister for Flanders, Joke Schauvliege, resigned on 5 February 2019 after falsely claiming the state security agency had evidence that the school strikes in Belgium were a "set‑up".

In the United Kingdom, on 13 February 2019, following open letters in support of the socio-political movement Extinction Rebellion in 2018, 224 academics signed an open letter giving their "full support to the students" attending the School Strike for Climate action. On Friday 15 February, more than 60 actions in towns and cities within the United Kingdom took place, with an estimated 15000 strikers taking part.

Climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, addressed a Fridays for Future climate strike in Potsdam, Germany that same day. On 21 February 2019, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, stated his intent to spend hundreds of billions of euros on climate-change mitigation, amounting to a fourth of the EU budget. He announced this in a speech next to Greta Thunberg, and media credited the school-strike movement with provoking the announcement.

On 5 March 2019, 700 German-speaking researchers signed a statement in support of the school strikes in that country. Other researchers were invited to support the statement and it has been signed by over 26800 scientists from mainly Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

On 9 May 2019, during a European Union summit in Sibiu, representatives of the movement from all over Europe met with several national leaders of European countries and handed them an open letter, which was signed by over 16000 European climate strikers and their sympathizers.

GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE FOR FUTURE 15 MARCH 2019

On 15 March 2019, a series of school strikes urging adults to take responsibility and stop the climate change took place. More than a million people demonstrated in about 2200 events worldwide across 125 countries.

On 1 March 2019, 150 students from the global coordination group of the youth-led climate strike (of 15 March), including Thunberg, issued an open letter in The Guardian, saying:

We, the young, are deeply concerned about our future. [...] We are the voiceless future of humanity. We will no longer accept this injustice. [...] We finally need to treat the climate crisis as a crisis. It is the biggest threat in human history and we will not accept the world's decision-makers' inaction that threatens our entire civilisation. [...] Climate change is already happening. People did die, are dying and will die because of it, but we can and will stop this madness. [...] United we will rise until we see climate justice. We demand the world's decision-makers take responsibility and solve this crisis. You have failed us in the past. If you continue failing us in the future, we, the young people, will make change happen by ourselves. The youth of this world has started to move and we will not rest again.

In Scotland, city councils of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Highland and Fife gave permission for children to attend the strikes. In Finland parental consent letters were sent to schools and in the Finnish city of Turku the school board proclaimed that children had a constitutional right to take part in the strikes.

On the morning of 15 March in a Guardian guest editorial, titled "Think we should be at school? Today's climate strike is the biggest lesson of all", school-climate-strikers Thunberg, Anna Taylor, Luisa Neubauer, Kyra Gantois, Anuna De Wever, Adélaïde Charlier, Holly Gillibrand and Alexandria Villaseñor, reiterated their reasons for striking. In November 2020 Holly Gillibrand was included in the BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Power list 2020.

In Germany, more than 300000 pupils demonstrated in 230 cities with more than 25000 in Berlin alone. In Italy more than 200000 students demonstrated (100000 in Milan according to the organisers). In Montreal more than 150000 attended; Stockholm 15000 to 20000, Melbourne 30000, Brussels 30000, and Munich 8000. Other cities included Paris, London, Washington, Reykjavík, Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Tokyo. In Antarctica, at least seven scientists held a supportive rally at the Neumayer-Station III of Alfred Wegener Institute.

In Christchurch, New Zealand, the strike was abandoned for safety reasons, after a gunman opened fire on two nearby mosques and killed 51 people.

SECOND GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE 24 MAY 2019

A second wave of global climate strikes began with actions in New Zealand and Australia on 24 May 2019. Hundreds of thousands of school students around the world struck in more than 1600 towns in at least 125 countries. Thunberg, one of the organizers, said that the strike took place on the second day of the four-day 2019 European Parliament election in order to affect it. Polls conducted at the time show that climate change was an important issue for voters in the election - the most important issue for German voters.

INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE STRIKE IN AACHEN 21 JUNE 2019

Fridays for Future Deutschland called for a major climate strike under the motto "Climate justice without borders – United for a future" also inviting people from 17 countries to come to Aachen on 21 June 2019. Protesters gathered at several points all over the city (including at Aachen main station, Westpark, RWTH CARL [de] and Vaals) representing different chapters of the movement. Accompanied by several musical groups, they then walked or drove with bicycles through the streets to the main event at the Tivoli, thereby blocking larger parts of the traffic infrastructure for hours. Some protesters occupied a house, a bridge and several poles to raise large posters.

A number of 10000 to 20000 people was anticipated. According to the organizers, with eventually 40000 protesters attending, this peaceful event turned out to be the largest single FFF climate strike in a German city that far. The police acknowledged the originally anticipated numbers. Among the many speakers were Cyril Dion (France), Karen Raymond (India), Tetet Nera-Lauron (Philippines) and Jesse (Netherlands), Milan Schwarze and Sina Chom (Ende Gelände), as well as activists from the Hambach Forest, Pacific Climate Warriors, Alle Dörfer bleiben! (English: All villages stay!) and All In for Climate Action. Artists participating in the event included Brass Riot, Culcha Candela, Bodo Wartke [de], Moop Mama, Ruslana Lyzhychko, KingzCorner, Leo Holldack and Davide Martello. Among the protesters were Rezo and Anton Hofreiter.

In parallel to this event, a group of Ende Gelände 2019 activists started protests at the nearby Garzweiler II open-pit lignite mine, blocking various mining infrastructure over the weekend. FFFD had recently declared its solidarity with this movement, stating that under the circumstances civil disobedience would be a legitimate form of protest to save the future, but, organizing another demonstration on 22 June 2019 in Hochneukirch/Jüchen in the direct neighborhood of the open-pit mine, that Fridays for Future would remain on the legal side.

On 19 June 2019, shortly before the events, the city of Aachen had followed several other German cities and declared a "climate emergency" state.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN LAUSANNE 5–9 AUGUST 2019

From 5 to 9 August 2019, the University of Lausanne hosted 450 young Europeans from the climate strike movement for the "SMILE for Future" conference ("Summer Meeting in Lausanne Europe"). On 9 August 2019, the conference ended with a demonstration and the publication of the Lausanne Climate Declaration stating the values, objectives and measures proposed by the movements' participants in Lausanne.

GLOBAL WEEK OF CLIMATE ACTION 20–27 SEPTEMBER 2019

The September Global Week for Climate Action was a series of strikes and events from 20 to 27 September 2019, primarily focused on the two Fridays 20 and 27 September. Timed to occur around the UN Climate Action Summit on 23 September, the protests were planned in 4500 locations across 150 countries.

Organizers of 20 September protests reported that over 4 million people participated in strikes worldwide, including 1.4 million participants in Germany and 300000 protesters in Australia. 27 September protests had a turnout of over 2 million people worldwide, including 1 million people in Italy and several hundred thousand people in Canada.

FOURTH GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE 29 NOVEMBER 2019

On 29 November 2019, three days before the start of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid, demonstrations took place in 2,400 cities across 157 countries to protest government inaction on the climate crisis. The organizers estimated the number of participants at 2 million, including about 630000 people in Germany.

LATER EVENTS 2020s

GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE 25 SEPTEMBER 2020

On 25 September 2020, a global climate strike took place. Strikes were scheduled in thousands of locations around the globe.

GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE 19 MARCH 2021

On Friday 19 March 2021, another global climate strike saw protests in hundreds of places around the planet; due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the scale of in-person gatherings was much reduced compared to previous years.

DISSOLUTION OF AUCKLAND CHAPTER JUNE 2021

On 15 June 2021, the Auckland chapter of New Zealand's School Strike 4 Climate movement formally disbanded on the grounds that it had been racist towards BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour). The group said that it would no longer organise strikes and instead pledged to "uplift BIPOC-led climate justice spaces." The dissolution of the Auckland chapter of the NZ School Strike movement drew mixed responses. Mary Moeono-Kolio, the Wellington coordinator of 350 Pacific Climate Warriors, and School Strike founder and national coordinator Sophie Hanford stated there was no room for racists in the climate movement and called for indigenous leadership on climate justice. Indigenous youth climate advocacy group Te Ara Whatu spokesperson Anevili welcomed the decision as a means of tackling racism but expressed concerned that activists of colour could be blamed for the Auckland chapter's dissolution.

GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE 24 SEPTEMBER 2021

On 24 September 2021 strikes were scheduled in more than 1400 locations around the globe. Strikes were heldin more than 90 countries with big events in Europe, America and Africa. Some of the largest demostrations were held in Germany. Greta Thunberg addressed more than 100,000 people in Berlin and declared that "No political party is doing enough".

DIGITAL CLIMATE STRIKE

The climate strike online movement, sometimes referred to as "digital strike", was started by two Asian-American climate activists from the United States in April 2019. This branch of climate striking was created in order to make climate activism accessible to those unable to strike physically. In March 2020, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Greta Thunberg encouraged the movement to not gather in the streets or town squares, but to instead sit at home with a sign and post the image on the Internet. The movement has since amassed notable popularity due to restrictions passed regarding large gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, receiving attention from organizations such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International.

Since its formation, the Fridays for Future Digital movement has engaged in a series of campaigns aimed at raising awareness of various climate justice issues. These include efforts to teach climate change education in schools and protect indigenous climate activists from harmful government policies.

SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND

It is accepted by the vast majority of scientists that the greenhouse effect which warms Earth is much increased by emission of vast amounts of carbon dioxide and some other gases by human activities. In the historical past the greenhouse effect, driven by volcanic and microbial carbon dioxide emission, prevented the earth from being permanently encased in ice, but since humanity industrialised, atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased and is causing ever more harmful global warming and climate change. The only processes that take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere (once takeup by acidifying the oceans is saturated) are geological - locking up of carbon by weathering and formation of rocks as carbonates and other compounds, on a timescale of hundreds of thousands of years - and botanical, uptake of carbon by vegetation, locking it up unless the vegetation burns or rots without being replaced, on a timescale of, at best, centuries.

Adults in positions of authority, in the form of fossil fuel corporations and global governments, are seen as being responsible for large carbon dioxide emissions, and doing far too little to reduce them. A 2019 statement by over 12,000 scientists says that "Young people’s concerns are justified and supported by the best available science".

SUPPORT FROM SCIENTISTS

On 31 January 2019, more than 3400 Belgian scientists and academics signed an open letter in support of the school strikes. The letter reads "On the basis of the facts supplied by climate science, the campaigners are right. That is why we, as scientists, support them." This was followed by an open letter in support of the school strikes in the Netherlands, signed by 340 scientists, and by 1200 researchers in Finland signing a letter, on 11 March 2019, supporting the strikes. An article published in Nature in March 2019 listed many other expressions of support, and no criticisms, from scientists, with comments such as "The idea of a climate strike is innovative. It’s provocative, and I think it’s the right form of non-violent civil disobedience".

In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland a group of scientists founded Scientists for Future (S4F) in support of the factual correctness of the claims formulated by the movement. The statement was signed by over 26000 German-language scientists and scholars.

On 14 March 2019, the Club of Rome issued an official statement in support of Thunberg and the strikes, urging governments across the world to respond to this call for action and cut global carbon emissions.

In early April 2019, a letter titled "Concerns of young protesters are justified" was published in Science. The letter declared that the climate strikers' concerns are "justified and supported by the best available science" and was signed by over 3000 scientists worldwide.

In June 2019, 1000 healthcare professionals in the UK and elsewhere, including professors, eminent public health figures, and former presidents of royal colleges, called for widespread non-violent civil disobedience in response to "woefully inadequate" government policies on the unfolding ecological emergency. They called on politicians and the news media to face the facts of the unfolding ecological emergency and take action. They supported the school strike movement and Extinction Rebellion.

On 14 October 2020, FFF Germany released a report from the Wuppertal Institute it had earlier commissioned. The underlying numerical study utilized scenario analysis to articulate a credible pathway for Germany to be carbon neutral by 2035.

REACTION BY SCHOOLS, POLITICIANS AND PARENTS

The strikes have been both praised and criticised by adults in positions of authority. In the European Union, the movement enjoyed significant support by the pan-European party Volt Europa which, according to a report by Parents for Future before the European Elections 2019, shared all demands published by Fridays For Future in April 2019.

Conservative politicians in the United Kingdom and Australia have described the strikes as truancy; some children have been punished or arrested for striking or demonstrating. Then UK Prime Minister Theresa May criticised the strikes as wasting lesson and teaching time. Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition, and Sir Vincent Cable, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, both voiced their support for the strikes, as did leaders of other UK parties. UK energy minister Claire Perry said that she would have joined the strikes in her younger days. David Reed, director of charity Generation Change, pointed out that "the school leaders seem to have missed the point of efforts over the past decade to raise education standards. For what does excellence in education look like if it’s not pupils being engaged enough on issues such as climate change to do something about them?"

Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison called for "more learning and less activism" following the strikes. Australia's Education Minister Dan Tehan said that if school students think that issues are important, they should take action after school or on weekends.

In New Zealand, there was mixed response from politicians, community leaders, and schools. Students were threatened to be marked as truant by some principals for attending the strike without their parents' or school's permission. Judith Collins, and several other Members of Parliament were dismissive of the impact of the strike, while Climate Change Minister James Shaw expressed support noting that little attention would be paid to marchers protesting on the weekend.

On 15 March 2019 the UN General Secretary António Guterres embraced the strikers, admitting that "My generation has failed to respond properly to the dramatic challenge of climate change. This is deeply felt by young people. No wonder they are angry." Guterres invited world leaders to a UN summit in September 2019 with "concrete realistic plans to enhance their nationally determined contributions by 2020".

Many parents, including public figures, have supported the children's climate strikes. A spokesperson for the "Our Kids’ Climate" organization says that "an adult’s presence can help keep strikers safe," and "suggests bringing a sign that will resonate with other parents, for example a sign that says “I’m a concerned mom.” Moms Clean Air Force recommends contacting school officials, providing snacks for the children, and standing with signs in solidarity.

The Elders Climate Action organization has created T-shirts which feature a grandparent hand in hand with a child, and seeks to mobilize "grandparents, great aunts and great uncles ... while there is still time to protect the well-being of our grandchildren.

Showing a trend of new environment-related dictionary terms, "climate strike" was named Collins Dictionary’s 2019 word of the year. Collins lexicographers had noticed a hundredfold increase in the use of the term in 2019, the largest of any word on their list.

CENSORSHIP - INDIA

In July 2020, the website of the Indian collective of Fridays for Future groups was blocked by the Government of India. The groups were leading a campaign against a controversial new EIA Draft proposed by the government.

There we were thinking Narendra Modi was a proponent of freedom of speech. He clearly does not want the electorate to have the full picture, to despoil his kleptocratic agenda, allegedly built on financial slavery. Being subsistence wages, and third world sanitation conditions for his workforce, as the commercial multiplier to his coffers. His policies are thus unsustainable in UN terms, much as his ambitions are based on coal burning folly.

AWARDS

On 7 June 2019, Fridays for Future and Greta Thunberg were honoured with Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award. Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said:

We are humbled and inspired by the determination with which youth activists across the world are challenging us all to confront the realities of the climate crisis. Every young person taking part in Fridays for Future embodies what it means to act on your conscience. They remind us that we are more powerful than we know and that we all have a role to play in protecting human rights against climate catastrophe.

COUNSELLING 25 SEPTEMBER 2019

Recently I’ve seen many rumors circulating about me and enormous amounts of hate. This is no surprise to me. I know that since most people are not aware of the full meaning of the climate crisis (which is understandable since it has never been treated as a crisis) a school strike for the climate would seem very strange to people in general.

So let me make some things clear about my school strike.

In may 2018 I was one of the winners in a writing competition about the environment held by Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish newspaper. I got my article published and some people contacted me, among others was Bo Thorén from Fossil Free Dalsland. He had some kind of group with people, especially youth, who wanted to do something about the climate crisis.

I had a few phone meetings with other activists. The purpose was to come up with ideas of new projects that would bring attention to the climate crisis. Bo had a few ideas of things we could do. Everything from marches to a loose idea of some kind of a school strike (that school children would do something on the schoolyards or in the classrooms). That idea was inspired by the Parkland Students, who had refused to go to school after the school shootings.

I liked the idea of a school strike. So I developed that idea and tried to get the other young people to join me, but no one was really interested. They thought that a Swedish version of the Zero Hour march was going to have a bigger impact. So I went on planning the school strike all by myself and after that I didn’t participate in any more meetings.

When I told my parents about my plans they weren’t very fond of it. They did not support the idea of school striking and they said that if I were to do this I would have to do it completely by myself and with no support from them.

On the 20 of august I sat down outside the Swedish Parliament. I handed out fliers with a long list of facts about the climate crisis and explanations on why I was striking. The first thing I did was to post on Twitter and Instagram what I was doing and it soon went viral. Then journalists and newspapers started to come. A Swedish entrepreneur and business man active in the climate movement, Ingmar Rentzhog, was among the first to arrive. He spoke with me and took pictures that he posted on Facebook. That was the first time I had ever met or spoken with him. I had not communicated or encountered with him ever before.

Many people love to spread rumors saying that I have people ”behind me” or that I’m being ”paid” or ”used” to do what I’m doing. But there is no one ”behind” me except for myself. My parents were as far from climate activists as possible before I made them aware of the situation.

I am not part of any organization. I sometimes support and cooperate with several NGOs that work with the climate and environment. But I am absolutely independent and I only represent myself. And I do what I do completely for free, I have not received any money or any promise of future payments in any form at all. And nor has anyone linked to me or my family done so.

And of course it will stay this way. I have not met one single climate activist who is fighting for the climate for money. That idea is completely absurd.

Furthermore I only travel with permission from my school and my parents pay for tickets and accommodations.

My family has written a book together about our family and how me and my sister Beata have influenced my parents way of thinking and seeing the world, especially when it comes to the climate. And about our diagnoses.

That book was due to be released in May. But since there was a major disagreement with the book company, we ended up changing to a new publisher and so the book was released in august instead.

Before the book was released my parents made it clear that their possible profits from the book ”Scener ur hjärtat” will be going to 8 different charities working with environment, children with diagnoses and animal rights.

And yes, I write my own speeches. But since I know that what I say is going to reach many, many people I often ask for input. I also have a few scientists that I frequently ask for help on how to express certain complicated matters. I want everything to be absolutely correct so that I don’t spread incorrect facts, or things that can be misunderstood.

Some people mock me for my diagnosis. But Asperger is not a disease, it’s a gift. People also say that since I have Asperger I couldn’t possibly have put myself in this position. But that’s exactly why I did this. Because if I would have been ”normal” and social I would have organized myself in an organisation, or started an organisation by myself. But since I am not that good at socializing I did this instead. I was so frustrated that nothing was being done about the climate crisis and I felt like I had to do something, anything. And sometimes NOT doing things – like just sitting down outside the parliament – speaks much louder than doing things. Just like a whisper sometimes is louder than shouting.

Also there is one complaint that I ”sound and write like an adult”. And to that I can only say; don’t you think that a 16-year old can speak for herself? There’s also some people who say that I oversimplify things. For example when I say that “the climate crisis is a black and white issue”, ”we need to stop the emissions of greenhouse gases” and ”I want you to panic”. But that I only say because it’s true. Yes, the climate crisis is the most complex issue that we have ever faced and it’s going to take everything from our part to ”stop it”. But the solution is black and white; we need to stop the emissions of greenhouse gases.

Because either we limit the warming to 1,5 degrees C over pre industrial levels, or we don’t. Either we reach a tipping point where we start a chain reaction with events way beyond human control, or we don’t. Either we go on as a civilization, or we don’t. There are no gray areas when it comes to survival.

And when I say that I want you to panic I mean that we need to treat the crisis as a crisis. When your house is on fire you don’t sit down and talk about how nice you can rebuild it once you put out the fire. If your house is on fire you run outside and make sure that everyone is out while you call the fire department. That requires some level of panic.

There is one other argument that I can’t do anything about. And that is the fact that I’m ”just a child and we shouldn’t be listening to children.” But that is easily fixed – just start to listen to the rock solid science instead. Because if everyone listened to the scientists and the facts that I constantly refer to – then no one would have to listen to me or any of the other hundreds of thousands of school children on strike for the climate across the world. Then we could all go back to school.

I am just a messenger, and yet I get all this hate. I am not saying anything new, I am just saying what scientists have repeatedly said for decades. And I agree with you, I’m too young to do this. We children shouldn’t have to do this. But since almost no one is doing anything, and our very future is at risk, we feel like we have to continue.

And if you have any other concern or doubt about me, then you can listen to my TED talk ( https://www.ted.com/…/greta_thunberg_the_disarming_…/up-next ), in which I talk about how my interest for the climate and environment began. 

And thank you everyone for you kind support! It brings me hope. /Greta

Ps I was briefly a youth advisor for the board of the non profit foundation “We don’t have time”. It turns out they used my name as part of another branch of their organisation that is a start up business. They have admitted clearly that they did so without the knowledge of me or my family. I no longer have any connection to “We don’t have time”. Nor has anyone in my family. They have deeply apologised and I have accepted their apology.

GRETA THUNBERG - is a Swedish climate activist. At the COP24 climate talks in Poland, December 2018, Miss Thunberg addressed the Secretary-General of the United Nations. She received a standing ovation for one of her talks. She is behind the global school strike created to call attention to climate change. She is a rebel. With a cause. Miss Thunberg was 15 and autistic and the newest, youngest and most powerful voice on the world stage demanding the world address global warming.

AN UNAPOLOGETIC REDHEAD - Skolstrejk För Klimatet - September 23, 2019 

Our home is on fire, there is an emergency and the adults aren’t doing anything about it. 

World leaders watched as millions of people from all over the world gathered this week in co-ordinated climate strikes, begging for them to save our planet and stop climate change in its tracks. The person responsible for this sudden awakening? A sixteen year old girl from Sweden, Greta Thunberg, someone we should all look to as a true inspiration.

What started as a lone sixteen year old girl sat outside Swedish parliament buildings holding a placard reading ‘skolstrejk för klimatet’ (school strike for the climate) has now turned into the whole world holding up placards and demanding change. 

Our planet is dying, this is not normal and should not be considered a ‘phase’. The amazon (the lungs of the earth) is burning due to deforestation by MAN, animals are dying due to deforestation and poaching by MAN, the earth’s temperature is rising due to deforestation and raised carbon emissions by MAN. Man is responsible for this, the animals aren’t responsible, we are. 

So, why are we striking and protesting? Why are more of us becoming vegan and refusing to buy anything that isn’t sourced sustainably? Why are more of us sitting up and taking notice? Why are children as young as 5 years old suddenly taking responsibility for their future by going on school strike to protest climate change? 

Because the adults don’t want to. I don’t mean adults like you and I, I mean politicians, world leaders, billionaires and, business tycoons. These are the people with the power to change the world, yes we can protest, turn vegan, stop buying animal products etc but really that’s a tiny dent, a meaningful dent but still tiny. 

The temperature of the earth is reaching an irreversible point, a one to two degree drop plunged us into an ice age many many years ago, just think what this one degree rise is doing to us now and what a further one degree rise could do to us in the future. Winters are no longer cold, summers are becoming unbearably hot, hurricanes are getting more intense, the polar ice caps are disappearing, animals are dying from starvation and homelessness. I’m not afraid to admit that I cry over the future of the planet, I cry for the animals all over the world who didn’t ask for this. If you haven’t, please watch (sir) David Attenborough’s ‘Our Planet’, I cried through nearly every episode because one day none of it will exist and it will be our fault. Our recklessness and neglect for the world that we live in, full of beauty and wonder, destroyed by selfishness and greed. 

This is a call to the leaders of the world; act now. Stop warring, stop using your tanks and bombs and guns to prove a point and start looking after the home we all share. Stop taxing us and start taxing corporations, start imposing sanctions on countries that refuse to change their ways and contribute positively to the health of the planet. You’re the people with the power so start looking after the land we live on, the oceans we swim in and the animals that we love. Industry must continue but you must think of cleaner ways to produce things, it is your job to solve the problems that the common man can’t. Stop fracking, mining and trying to get into the earth’s core, put money into researching for an alternative to fossil fuels and stop being so cheap. Stop dredging oceans and over-fishing, stop dumping waste into the sea and suffocating the animals that call it home. With all the money you have spent on war, you could have been cleaning up the planet and cleaning up your act. 

SCHOOLS CLIMATE ART - Local schools in and around Eastbourne in Sussex, took part in a competition to express themselves by drawing and painting posters for parks in the town - arranged by Oliver Sterno (former geography teacher) and other volunteers from Plastic Free Eastbourne, a group also concerned about climate change. The winner of this competition was 7 year old Jude James from Roselands. He's now at a different school.

What can we do? 

Stop buying goods imported from faraway countries ie. China. Spend a little bit more if you have to and shop local, put back into the economy and save the planet paying the price for your discount. 
Stop using products that aren’t sourced sustainably or are tested on animals. Don’t buy products with excess packaging and if you do, recycle. 

I’m not going to tell you to go Vegan, but please think about where your food is coming from. Take part in clean up days, clean up the land, sea and air. 

Wherever you can, walk or take public transport instead of driving. One less car on the road can lead to many less cars on the road and make a small change. 

Don’t give up, don’t ever think “What is the point?”. The point is, we are taking responsibility for our children’s future, meaning they can enjoy being children. 

Those are just a few very simple examples, there are many more things we can do and you can find them on https://www.greenpeace.org.uk , https://globalclimatestrike.net or https://www.wwf.org.uk . 

This planet is our home, but it’s only a temporary home for us because we’re just visitors passing by until our time here comes to an end. The earth will outlive us, hopefully, and though her place in the universe is undetermined, one thing for sure is that she is a rarity. She is a biological wonder and one of the only eco-systems capable of supporting life as we know it, so we shouldn’t be destroying her, we should be nurturing her and learning. We mustn’t disregard the lives of the animals and indigenous tribes that inhabit the world, we should be showing them respect and making sure there is room for everyone. 

I feel very strongly about climate change and looking after the planet, I am a strong believer in putting back into the earth to say thanks for all she has given to us. I buy local over cheap & mass produced, I am on a vegan journey and have overhauled my cosmetics and will be purchasing sustainably sourced clothes & furnishings. I am one person trying to make a difference just like Greta, now if we are all just one person trying to make a difference and there are millions of us, we will make a difference. 

Give thanks to the earth, she has blessed us with a beautiful and bountiful home and deserves better.

LINKS & REFERENCE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_strike_for_climate

DISCLAIMER - The Climate Change Trust is not in contact with Ms Thunberg, does not have her address, and would not give out that information without her express permission in any event. The Trust does not represent her in any way. We are though sympathetic to her causes and follow her progress as she may affect policy on climate change, even where she does not propose solutions, just calls for action, such calls are important reminders for world leaders that they are not doing enough to combat global warming. The Trust avers that it has the right to report on media articles, receive and impart information as per Articles 9 and 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, and other articles enshrined in international law under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Where registered, trademarks will be respected, but this does not prevent legitimate comment on media events and articles, as per the Freedom of the Press. The public have a right to know. We are advocates of fair and balanced reporting.

Greta needs protection against those she claims may be imitating her persona for profit. While we love her enthusiasm, it would not hurt to learn a bit more about economics, such as to be able to counter those attacking her weak areas of knowledge. Obviously, she is entering the commercial arena herself by seeking to trademark just about everything she is doing. Welcome to the real world. We hope that her recent moves to make money from the books she is now talking about, etc., does not cloud her judgment.

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