SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Children in Indonesia joined the Fridays for Future demonstrations on Sept. 13, 2019. (Photo: 350 Indonesia/Twitter)
From Nepal to New Zealand to Nigeria, Fridays for Future Youth Activists Take to Streets Worldwide One Week Before #ClimateStrike
"We are calling on everyone to join us," said strike organizer Jerome Foster II. "We need a truly diverse and multi-generational movement, made of people from all ages and backgrounds, not just the youth."
Sep 13, 2019
Activists with the youth-led Fridays for Future movement took to the streets worldwide Friday, calling for bolder efforts to battle the climate emergency and encouraging people of all ages to join the global #ClimateStrike on Sept. 20.
The environmental group 350.org looked to next week's strikes in a statement Friday, saying that "huge demonstrations are expected across the globe with numbers surpassing the March 2019 record of 1.6 million people." So far, climate campaigners have planned 3,459 events across 120 countries for a week of action that aligns with the United Nations Climate Action Summit.
To register for an event or find one near you, visit globalclimatestrike.net. For U.S. strikes, visit strikewithus.org.
"We are calling on everyone to join us," Jerome Foster II, a youth climate activist and strike organizer, said at a press conference Thursday. "We need a truly diverse and multi-generational movement, made of people from all ages and backgrounds, not just the youth. We need adults to stand up and call for action and to support young people and do things that young people can't do. We should be fighting for our future."
"The good news is the fossil industry is beginning to lose the fight. We need to replace them now to keep temperature below 1.5 degrees," said 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, referencing the lower target of the Paris climate agreement. "September 20th to 27th will be the biggest climate mobilization we have ever seen. The world is going to demonstrate that it is ready for a change."
In an email to supporters of the youth-led Sunrise Movement Friday, 13-year-old Hadassah from Northwest Philadelphia wrote:
For me, the 2020 election can be scary to think about, because I know that this is our last chance to elect a president and Congress who will still have time to stop the climate crisis. That's so important for my future, but I can't even vote.
Because of that, I really want another way to take control and make sure we can elect candidates who will fight for a Green New Deal. I've found that in the global climate strike.
[...]
This strike is going to be massive. Already there are over 630 strike-day actions and rallies planned just in the U.S. And some major organizations are standing with us, including the United Electrical labor union with 35,000 members, and the entire New York City public school system.
Just a day after Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo called on school administrations across the globe to let students to join the climate strikes planned for Sept. 20 and 27, the New York City public school system announced Thursday that it would excuse absences for students who secure permission from a parent to participate in the first global strike.
"The protection of the environment should not be a movement or a moment in time, it should be part of our culture," New York-based Fridays for Future leader Xiye Bastida said at the Thursday press conference. "The youth are working towards this goal, and we need everyone to join us."
Bastida was among the youth activists who protested outside the U.N. headquarters in NYC on Friday and took to social media to promote next week's global strike.
Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg joined an 11-minute die-in outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Friday, as young people with the global movement she helped launch also demonstrated in Argentina, Bangladesh, Germany, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Turkey, Uganda, and more countries around the world.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
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 has always been 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, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
350.orgchildrenfridaysforfuturegreta thunbergnew york citypeople powersunrise movementtwitterunited nations
Activists with the youth-led Fridays for Future movement took to the streets worldwide Friday, calling for bolder efforts to battle the climate emergency and encouraging people of all ages to join the global #ClimateStrike on Sept. 20.
The environmental group 350.org looked to next week's strikes in a statement Friday, saying that "huge demonstrations are expected across the globe with numbers surpassing the March 2019 record of 1.6 million people." So far, climate campaigners have planned 3,459 events across 120 countries for a week of action that aligns with the United Nations Climate Action Summit.
To register for an event or find one near you, visit globalclimatestrike.net. For U.S. strikes, visit strikewithus.org.
"We are calling on everyone to join us," Jerome Foster II, a youth climate activist and strike organizer, said at a press conference Thursday. "We need a truly diverse and multi-generational movement, made of people from all ages and backgrounds, not just the youth. We need adults to stand up and call for action and to support young people and do things that young people can't do. We should be fighting for our future."
"The good news is the fossil industry is beginning to lose the fight. We need to replace them now to keep temperature below 1.5 degrees," said 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, referencing the lower target of the Paris climate agreement. "September 20th to 27th will be the biggest climate mobilization we have ever seen. The world is going to demonstrate that it is ready for a change."
In an email to supporters of the youth-led Sunrise Movement Friday, 13-year-old Hadassah from Northwest Philadelphia wrote:
For me, the 2020 election can be scary to think about, because I know that this is our last chance to elect a president and Congress who will still have time to stop the climate crisis. That's so important for my future, but I can't even vote.
Because of that, I really want another way to take control and make sure we can elect candidates who will fight for a Green New Deal. I've found that in the global climate strike.
[...]
This strike is going to be massive. Already there are over 630 strike-day actions and rallies planned just in the U.S. And some major organizations are standing with us, including the United Electrical labor union with 35,000 members, and the entire New York City public school system.
Just a day after Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo called on school administrations across the globe to let students to join the climate strikes planned for Sept. 20 and 27, the New York City public school system announced Thursday that it would excuse absences for students who secure permission from a parent to participate in the first global strike.
"The protection of the environment should not be a movement or a moment in time, it should be part of our culture," New York-based Fridays for Future leader Xiye Bastida said at the Thursday press conference. "The youth are working towards this goal, and we need everyone to join us."
Bastida was among the youth activists who protested outside the U.N. headquarters in NYC on Friday and took to social media to promote next week's global strike.
Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg joined an 11-minute die-in outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Friday, as young people with the global movement she helped launch also demonstrated in Argentina, Bangladesh, Germany, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Turkey, Uganda, and more countries around the world.
Activists with the youth-led Fridays for Future movement took to the streets worldwide Friday, calling for bolder efforts to battle the climate emergency and encouraging people of all ages to join the global #ClimateStrike on Sept. 20.
The environmental group 350.org looked to next week's strikes in a statement Friday, saying that "huge demonstrations are expected across the globe with numbers surpassing the March 2019 record of 1.6 million people." So far, climate campaigners have planned 3,459 events across 120 countries for a week of action that aligns with the United Nations Climate Action Summit.
To register for an event or find one near you, visit globalclimatestrike.net. For U.S. strikes, visit strikewithus.org.
"We are calling on everyone to join us," Jerome Foster II, a youth climate activist and strike organizer, said at a press conference Thursday. "We need a truly diverse and multi-generational movement, made of people from all ages and backgrounds, not just the youth. We need adults to stand up and call for action and to support young people and do things that young people can't do. We should be fighting for our future."
"The good news is the fossil industry is beginning to lose the fight. We need to replace them now to keep temperature below 1.5 degrees," said 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, referencing the lower target of the Paris climate agreement. "September 20th to 27th will be the biggest climate mobilization we have ever seen. The world is going to demonstrate that it is ready for a change."
In an email to supporters of the youth-led Sunrise Movement Friday, 13-year-old Hadassah from Northwest Philadelphia wrote:
For me, the 2020 election can be scary to think about, because I know that this is our last chance to elect a president and Congress who will still have time to stop the climate crisis. That's so important for my future, but I can't even vote.
Because of that, I really want another way to take control and make sure we can elect candidates who will fight for a Green New Deal. I've found that in the global climate strike.
[...]
This strike is going to be massive. Already there are over 630 strike-day actions and rallies planned just in the U.S. And some major organizations are standing with us, including the United Electrical labor union with 35,000 members, and the entire New York City public school system.
Just a day after Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo called on school administrations across the globe to let students to join the climate strikes planned for Sept. 20 and 27, the New York City public school system announced Thursday that it would excuse absences for students who secure permission from a parent to participate in the first global strike.
"The protection of the environment should not be a movement or a moment in time, it should be part of our culture," New York-based Fridays for Future leader Xiye Bastida said at the Thursday press conference. "The youth are working towards this goal, and we need everyone to join us."
Bastida was among the youth activists who protested outside the U.N. headquarters in NYC on Friday and took to social media to promote next week's global strike.
Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg joined an 11-minute die-in outside the White House in Washington, D.C. on Friday, as young people with the global movement she helped launch also demonstrated in Argentina, Bangladesh, Germany, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Turkey, Uganda, and more countries around the world.
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.