Global Climate Strike

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andrewtaylor andrewtaylor September 19, 2019

What’s happening tomorrow?

You know it's going to be big, but you might not realise just how massive the Global Climate Strike on September 20 will be. Check it out.

Raedena Savea, Pacific Climate Warrior, Council of Elder, has mobilised her community to ‘put an end to the fossil fuel industry’ because the ‘climate crisis is getting worse and climate negotiations are not moving forward at all.’

On Friday, as the sun rises on the Pacific Ocean, the Global Climate Strike will begin.

Frontline communities from the Pacific Islands facing rising sea levels will be the first to strike. Events across the islands include mass sit-ins, marches, festivals, intergenerational talanoa dialogues, and art competitions to lift up the stories, fights, and leadership coming out of the Pacific.

From there, the strike will spread across the globe to a total of 156 countries for a week of action through September 27, bringing together millions of people in villages, towns, and cities. Parents, workers, scientists, faith groups, unions, and companies will take to the streets, joining the children who have led the way.

Australia will see marches in every major city, with heaps of support from society rallying behind the strikes. Faith groups, including Uniting and Anglican Churches, are coming out in force. A number of unions are organising their members to attend. And over 2,000 businesses are coming together to support the strike and allowing staff to leave work. Even local councils and Victoria’s state governments are allowing staff to attend the demonstrations.


In Nepal there will be a rally highlighting the climate impacts on the Himalayas and opposing the government’s plan to start seismic tests for hydrocarbon drilling in the Himalayas. In Bangladesh, protests in Sundarbans will be led by communities living near the under-construction Rampal coal plant. In India, widespread action is happening in over 70 locations. At least 2,000 people across the Philippines — students, indigenous peoples, and people from coal-affected communities and costal villages — are gearing up for a record number of 15 youth-led climate strikes.

The climate strike in Africa, #AfrikaVuka, is expecting huge turnout, with over 100 actions planned across the continent. In Nairobi, Kenya, interfaith alliances and schools will resist against fossil fuel businesses and advocate for rapid integration of renewable solutions. In Senegal, a climate camp will be followed by a march to call on policymakers to stop the coal power plant in Bargny from operating. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, there will be a mobilisation of communities, civil society, and young people calling on the president to adhere to conservation laws.


Nigerians will take to the streets to demand that policymakers make greater strides in environmental policies and laws. Cote d’Ivoire will see a march and protest in two locations against a proposed coal plant in San Pedro. South Africa will start in Johannesburg with a peaceful march calling for the acceleration of a just transition towards a low-carbon, renewable energy future, followed by a week of positive climate action in their communities, from beach clean-ups to urban gardening and recycled art workshops. The strikes are supported by the South African Federation of Trade Unions, which organises 800,000 workers.


Globally, 72 trade unions and federations are supporting the climate strike, with unions in Quebec and Italy taking formal strike action to join the youth school strikers. In the U.S., workers in major tech companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft are walking out of work to demand their companies take real action on climate change.

6,300 websites, including Kickstarter, Tumblr, and Tor will be green-screening their sites and directing visitors to the climate strike website as part of the Digital Climate Strike.

Globally, over 2,500 businesses are supporting the strikes — from those going all out, like Patagonia and Lush, with poster-making areas in their stores or closing their doors for the day completely, to others allowing workers to walk out for a short period to join the strike.

Ukraine will be a bright rally of loud chants and colourful, diverse messaging on placards and banners demanding a green course for the future. In Georgia, schoolchildren, students, teachers, local activists, government representatives, media, and NGOs will take part in the March for Climate. Actions are also taking place in Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia. In Turkey there are loads of actions planned, including a gathering with music and workshops led by students in Istanbul.

More than 1,240 actions will be held in Europe across seven countries. This will be Germany’s biggest day of climate action ever, with marches and blockades in over 500 towns and cities. In Sweden, a transport company is stopping work for its 52,000 employees. In the UK, key unions are calling for a 30-minute stop work. There will be major actions across the country, including a minute of silence at a Primera League football match. Large-scale actions are also happening in Paris, Brussels, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam.

There will be mobilisations in every country in Latin America, including countries that have not participated in climate action before such as Cuba and Venezuela! From Brazil right up to Mexico, there will be protests: A massive march in the south of Brazil against the proposal of the biggest coal mine in the country. Artistic performances in Colombia and Costa Rica. Indigenous mobilisations in Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru. People in Chile will be going big against all coal plants in the country. Argentina and Uruguay will use the opportunity to apply pressure to the candidates ahead of presidential elections in October.

In the United States, a monumental mobilisation will see over 1,000 protests across the country, taking #StrikeWithUs outside of the major cities to every corner of the nation. New York public schools have given permission for all 1.1 million students to skip classes!

Friday will be an extraordinary show of global power — one that will have an enormous impact on local fights for climate justice everywhere. Organisers who have been leading fights against dangerous fossil fuel projects and defending their communities from the growing impact of extreme weather will be on strike to say that climate justice requires bold local action from every level of government.

With so many actions happening, to cover them all would take writing a book. Take a look at the map to find a strike happening near you.

 

Join the strike

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