On strike for climate justice: the youth climate movement hits the UK big time next week

The youth climate strike movement is about to hit the UK big time. On 15 February, young people in at least thirty towns across the UK will be walking out of lessons to demand immediate government action on the climate crisis. From Belfast to Brighton, Fort William to Cardiff, the movement of young people in the UK demanding climate justice is growing rapidly.
Some young people in the UK are ahead of the curve:
Our 8th #schollstrike4climate at Ullapool High School this moning. UK wide strike planned for next Friday 15 Feb. Come out and support us kids ! @GretaThunberg @klondyker @HollyWildChild @patrickharvie @ChrisGPackham @HighlandCouncil @Strike4Youth @XRHighlands @ScotParl pic.twitter.com/VF8e5SVdcz
— UllapoolSharkAmbassador (@FinlayPringle) February 8, 2019
Read on...
Today is my 5th #schoolstrike4climate. I am striking because I love #nature, I love the people on this amazing planet and I want a future that is worth living.
"What is the point in studying for a future which soon will be no more?" – @GretaThunberg pic.twitter.com/R2dTTuz6tT
— Holly Gillibrand (@HollyWildChild) February 8, 2019
#SchoolStrike4Climate #FridaysForFuture Edinburgh week 5 outside @ScotParl this morning!
42% population, 100% future! #Gretathunberg pic.twitter.com/qg2kMPaFbs— Extinction Rebellion Scotland (@ScotlandXr) February 8, 2019
First one, now thousands
The idea of striking from school to demand action on climate change came from 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, a Swedish student who went on strike outside the parliament building in Stockholm in August 2018. She handed out leaflets which read:
I am doing this because you adults are shitting on my future.
Since then, Thunberg has become a global climate leader. The strike for climate has spread to an estimated 270 towns and cities around the world and involves tens of thousands of young people.
The adults strike back
The strikes haven’t always gone down well with adults. Strikes have been particularly large in Belgium, where tens of thousands of students have walked out of classes. The country’s environment minister, Joke Schauvliege, was forced to resign after claiming that the young people on strike were being “set up” by powers she declined to name.
In Australia, thousands of children walked out of school in November 2018. In response, prime minister Scott Morrison told parliament:
What we want is more learning in schools and less activism.
There was only one possible response to that, and somebody put it on a placard:
It’s brilliance is in it’s simplicity. #climatestrike pic.twitter.com/QwIYnH73FS
— Ira Snave (@IraSnave) November 30, 2018
Undeterred by adults
Ultimately, the crisis is so urgent that young people are undeterred by adults who wish they’d shut up and stay in school:
“I just got flipped off!” #climatestrike #fridaysforfuture #SchoolStrike4Climate @GretaThunberg @AlexandriaV2005 @israhirsi @zaynecowie @releaf4us @ClimateHuman I’m finding my strength one strike at a time. Haters gonna hate. I laugh back. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/KEXUt0Yf5V
— Haven Coleman (@havenruthie) February 8, 2019
One of the organisers of the upcoming UK strikes, 17-year-old Anna Taylor, told the TES that she would get a detention for missing school. She said:
I don’t mind. The mass extinction of the earth compared to one day of school.
Every reason to walk out
Last year, Green MP Caroline Lucas warned that government decisions on expanding Heathrow, and cancelling a planned tidal lagoon renewable energy project, had “taken a wrecking ball to the UK’s climate policies”. Young people have every reason to walk out of school to demand a liveable future. And with a global strike planned for 15 March, it doesn’t look as if they’re going shut up anytime soon.
Featured image via Olia Balabina/Flickr
Get involved
- Join one of the the UK-wide strikes for climate on 15 February – or organise and register your own event.
- Follow Greta Thunberg, School Strike 4 Climate, YouthStrike4Climate on Twitter.
We need your help to keep speaking the truth
Every story that you have come to us with; each injustice you have asked us to investigate; every campaign we have fought; each of your unheard voices we amplified; we do this for you. We are making a difference on your behalf.
Our fight is your fight. You’ve supported our collective struggle every time you gave us a like; and every time you shared our work across social media. Now we need you to support us with a monthly donation.
We have published nearly 2,000 articles and over 50 films in 2021. And we want to do this and more in 2022 but we don’t have enough money to go on at this pace. So, if you value our work and want us to continue then please join us and be part of The Canary family.
In return, you get:
* Advert free reading experience
* Quarterly group video call with the Editor-in-Chief
* Behind the scenes monthly e-newsletter
* 20% discount in our shop
Almost all of our spending goes to the people who make The Canary’s content. So your contribution directly supports our writers and enables us to continue to do what we do: speaking truth, powered by you. We have weathered many attempts to shut us down and silence our vital opposition to an increasingly fascist government and right-wing mainstream media.
With your help we can continue:
* Holding political and state power to account
* Advocating for the people the system marginalises
* Being a media outlet that upholds the highest standards
* Campaigning on the issues others won’t
* Putting your lives central to everything we do
We are a drop of truth in an ocean of deceit. But we can’t do this without your support. So please, can you help us continue the fight?
-
Show Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to leave a comment.Join the conversationPlease read our comment moderation policy here.