Adults have pledged to stand in solidarity with young protestors
BY NATALIE CORNISH SEP 17, 2019
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Adults and children in Oxford are joining forces in a city-wide strike to raise awareness of the climate crisis, on Friday 20th September, in what has been hailed as Britain’s “first General Strike since 1926”.
The people of Oxford are joining the world-wide Global Climate Strike, which has been organised by environmental groups.
On Friday, in the prestigious university city, protestors of all ages will take the day off work, school and studies to march through Oxford’s streets.
According to the Metro, the city and surrounding areas will be brought to a standstill as around 1,000 protestors raise their voices to demand action on climate change from their leaders.
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EJ Fawcett, one of the students involved in the Oxford strike, told the newspaper that young people were “sick of the government ignoring the crisis”.
He said: “We know that no-one listens to young people in the same way that they listen to adults. So we decided ‘alright then, we’ll get the adults involved too’. We are calling on everyone and anyone who can to walk out with us on Friday and demand action on climate change.”
Greta Thunberg protests against climate change outside Sweden’s parliament buildingMICHAEL CAMPANELLAGETTY IMAGES
WHAT IS THE GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE?
Friday’s Global Climate Strike is inspired by climate change activist Greta Thunberg who, at the beginning of her campaign, regularly skipped school on Fridays to protest about environmental issues outside Sweden’s parliament building. She now travels the world encouraging others to do the same.
Greenpeace is calling on as many people as possible to “protest for climate action in solidarity with the school strikers” on Friday 20th September.
“Young people are really leading the charge on this one, and with good reason. The planet is set to warm by between 3C and 4C by 2100, with massive ramifications for everyone’s quality of life. As for the next generation, their futures hang in the balance,” the charity explains on its website.
“It’s important to lobby our government into making big, bold changes at the highest levels of our society. Individual tweaks to lifestyles aren’t going to cut it anymore. Mass action, which will make our leaders act, is required right now.”
