Climate activist Greta Thunberg demonstrated with tens of thousands of others in Montreal in what became another Friday of global climate protests.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg addressed the audience ahead of the climate protest in Montreal, Canada, on Friday.
– We should take it as a compliment that we have so much influence that people want to silence us, Thunberg said after a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Canadian city.
The 16-year-old started the week by berating world leaders, who she said are moving too slowly and not doing enough to tackle climate change. Following the thunderous speech at the UN, she and the climate movement have been criticized by adults who feel they are overreacting.
US President Donald Trump and others who mock him probably feel their worldview and interests are threatened by climate activism, the 16-year-old believes.
– We have become too loud for people to manipulate us, that’s why they want to gag us, Thunberg said before heading to the climate march in Montreal.
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60,000 in Stockholm
A little over a year ago, she organized her first school climate strike. Since then, millions more people have been inspired to get involved in the fight against global warming.
In Thunberg’s hometown of Stockholm, around 60,000 people gathered for a climate protest on Friday. In Sweden, climate protests took place in more than 100 locations, from Kiruna to Malmö.
In Italy, up to 1 million people are reported to have demonstrated in a large number of cities to demand a more aggressive climate policy. 250,000 of them demonstrated in Rome and 150,000 in Milan, the organizer estimates.
There was also a demonstration on Friday in Stockholm, where Greta Thunberg launched the climate strike movement.
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From India to Finland
The protests spread to more than 150 localities after the country’s education minister urged teachers not to punish students who were truant on Friday.
The fear of young generations over global warming triggered new demonstrations on Friday also in India, Spain, Portugal, Finland and the Netherlands. The first stop was the capital Wellington, New Zealand, where organizers estimate 170,000 people took part across the country.
A week ago, around 4 million people around the world took part in protests ahead of the United Nations climate summit on Monday.
Two days later, the UN climate panel released a grim new report on how climate change is affecting the planet’s oceans and ice-covered areas.
The ice is melting faster, the sea is rising faster, extreme weather events are occurring more often, and it will take enormous sums of money to protect large cities from bodies of water.
A young girl holds up a burning globe during the climate protest in Mumbai.
350 in Oslo
For Norway, the report highlights shorter winters, an increased risk of floods and landslides and the risk of significant reductions in fishing.
In Oslo, around 350 people demonstrated in the rain in front of the Storting, according to the organizer.
This is a sharp drop from August 30, when turnout was estimated at between 4,000 and 5,000 people before the general election.
In March, around 40,000 schoolchildren went on strike in the capital to demand a new direction on climate policy.
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