Millions of young people strike for the climate
In a coordinated global protest, students walked out of schools to demand action, launching a new youth movement.
More than a million young people walked out of schools and universities in a coordinated global protest this March, striking for the climate in cities across more than a hundred countries in a dramatic demonstration of a new, youth-led movement demanding urgent action.
The strikes grew from the solitary protest of a Swedish teenager, Greta Thunberg, who had begun skipping school to sit outside her country's parliament with a sign reading "School strike for climate." Her example inspired a movement that spread with astonishing speed, as students organised walkouts under the banner of "Fridays for Future."
The young protesters delivered a pointed message to the adults in power: that they were failing in their duty to protect the future, and that the generation who would live longest with the consequences of climate change demanded to be heard. Their placards accused leaders of stealing their future and ignoring the science.
The strikes marked a turning point in the climate debate, injecting a new moral urgency and energy into a cause that had often struggled to command sustained public attention. The movement's youth, clarity and global reach made it impossible to ignore.
The protests would continue and grow through the year, culminating in even larger mobilisations. They reframed climate change as a matter of intergenerational justice, and thrust a generation of young activists onto the world stage, where they would continue to press leaders to match their words with action.