Global Climate Strike Day

In 150 countries around the world, it's the first Global Climate Strike Day.  Here's what the organizers are saying:

This week will be historic. In over 150 countries, people are stepping up to support young climate strikers and demand an end to the age of fossil fuels. The climate crisis won’t wait, so neither will we...

Young people have woken up much of the world with their powerful Fridays for Future school strikes for the climate. As we deal with devastating climate breakdown and hurtle towards dangerous tipping points, young people are calling on millions of us across the planet to disrupt business as usual by joining the global climate strikes on September 20, just ahead of a UN emergency climate summit, and again on September 27. Together, we will sound the alarm and show our politicians that business as usual is no longer an option. The climate crisis won’t wait, so neither will we.

Millions are already turning out in Australia, Asia, and Europe.  Following her testimony before Congress this week, climate activist Greta Thunberg urged her fellow teenagers and others to join the strike:

It’s a big moment for Thunberg and the legions of youth and adult activists and leaders she’s inspired since August 2018, when she began skipping school on Fridays to protest outside the Swedish Parliament. Thousands of young people in the movement, called Fridays for Future, now strike every Friday to demand more aggressive action from their governments and the international community. The last large-scale coordinated climate strike on May 24 drew participants from 130 countries.

The New York strike is expected to attract thousands of people, and parallel strikes in DC, Boston, Seattle, Minneapolis, Miami, Los Angeles, and Denver may, too.

But this is truly a global strike and it will be the movement’s largest yet, with 2,500 events scheduled in over 150 countries. [snip]

And it’s not just young people joining in. In Sweden, a group of senior citizens called Gretas Gamilingar (Greta’s oldies) is participating. Indigenous activists, labor groups, faith leaders, humanitarian groups, and environmental organizations like Greenpeace and 350.org will be joining youth around the world, too.

Outdoor equipment company Patagonia said it will close its stores on Friday in solidarity with the strike. So is snowboard brand Burton. Employees at Amazon, Google, Twitter, and Microsoft have pledged to join the strike.

Here's the scene in Sydney, Australia, from earlier today:

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— Kym Chapple (@kymtje) September 20, 2019

(Top photo: 80,000 gather in Sydney, Australia/  Louise Kennerly)