Wow. Just: wow.
Over this past week, almost eight million people walked out on the streets of the entire globe, more than 4 million (and counting!) of them in Europe.
We showed the world, and each other, that we are determined, powerful, and ready. We followed the lead of young people and stood together in solidarity and in hope. That’s what made this Climate Strike week an incredible, overwhelming success for the movement for climate justice.
And that’s why, even as this week ends, we know that this historic Climate Strike is a new beginning. See for yourself.
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7.6 million is a good number.
Did we count on that, back when we decided to join youth strikers in their mobilisation? No.
Did we secretly hope for that, and more? Well, yeah.
But we hoped for something else even more than for record-breaking numbers.
We hoped that this shared defiance of business-as-usual would help us build power, and lay bridges that weren’t there before. That it would make us look up, and realise that we can only win this fight for our future if we stand together.
In the past week, in 38 countries in Europe, and on every continent across the whole planet, we made this dream into reality. We followed the youth strikers out on the streets, angry, defiant, but also hopeful.
A million people protested in Italy. 1,4 million went on strike across Germany. Hundreds of thousands of us joined protests in big cities and small villages across Europe, from Portugal to Poland, from Ireland to Finland.
We stood hand in hand in our rage and solidarity and we said “no more” to the destruction and oppression which has brought us to the brink of a global climate crisis. We lifted each other up. We spoke up against destruction, racism, patriarchy, and an economy which puts profit above people and planet. We dared to imagine a different future, and fight for it.
Greta Thunberg said this in front of the United Nations: “Right here, right now, is where we draw the line. The world is waking up, and change is coming – whether you like it, or not”.
We are that change. And we are coming for those who stand in our way.
The bosses of fossil fuel corporations. Banks who fuel the fire of climate breakdown by pouring money into coal, oil and gas projects. Politicians in the pockets of billionaires. All who value money and profit over the survival of our planet and the future of the next generations.
This is just the beginning. We’ll keep showing up. We’ll keep escalating. We’ll keep lifting up each other, and all voices demanding justice.