Youth in action for better climate

February 13, 20196 years ago Nick Huisman 4929 Views 0 Comments 3 min read

“You are destroying our future.” It is a clear message from the thousands of young people around the world. There is a movement developing, where students skip school to demonstrate for the climate. For the past few weeks for example, ten of thousands of students have been protesting in Belgium. It might have all started with a 16-year old climate activist from Sweden, Greta Thunberg. Soon, she became an example for climate demonstrations across Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, the Faroe Islands. More and more young generations speak up to their governments, that we have to act now to safeguard our own future, and the future of our planet.

Please also read: Fighting for nature conservation in Europe, get involved!

The Greta-effect

Greta Thunberg has become an icon for climate activists across the globe. As many others, she worries about the global warming and ignorance of many countries to do something about it. This week Greta Thurnberg publicly spoke up about Germany’s phasing-out of cole which is only planned for 2038. She called the announcement of such a late date “absure” and that Germany is missing an important chance and has a responsibility to act as an example. Back in September 2018, she skipped school to demonstrate three weeks in front of the Swedish Parliament. Other demonstrations in Scandinavia followed quickly, and the movement continues to grow.

Fridays for Future

In Australia, thousands of students protested for the government to take action. The same government that advised the students to stay in school to learn. The students had a clear message:

We learn from this protest, even if it is during school time. But we cannot sit and wait until we are old enough to vote.

Australian youth protest for a better climate

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Also in Germany, the protests have grown. What started off with a handful of protesting students, resulted in tens of thousands in the last weeks. At the same time, in Switzerland tens of thousand go to the streets as well. Also in the US, young climate activists continue to protest in front of the United Nations.

Educating youth as a key

Education of the next generations is very important to continue to protect nature and our own future. The European Wilderness Society is therefore doing various international projects to support this. Our youth education experts will continue with the new ‘Let’s get Wild’ project all across Austria. In the meantime we will also organise a special youth conference for a greener future for Ukrainian and Austrian youngsters. Stay tuned for more information on our website.