Global climate strike

Greta Thunberg spoke at the climate strike in New York City Friday, arriving on stage at a rally in Battery Park to cheers of “Greta! Greta!”?

Thunberg began by listing off numbers of participants in the climate strike around the world, stating that at least 250,000 people in New York City joined roughly four million others striking worldwide. CNN has not verified these numbers.?

Watch here:

New York’s 1.1 million students owe a big thanks to Alexandria Villase?or and Xiye Bastida who were instrumental in making sure they could attend Friday’s climate strike.

Villase?or and Bastida were crucial in petitioning the Department of Education (DOE) to allow students to attend the protest without being penalized for missing class.

See the full interview with Bastida and Villase?or below:

Activist Greta Thunberg is expected to speak in New York City around 5 p.m. ET, capping off a day of worldwide protests calling for “climate justice.”

Thunberg made headlines after she sailed across the Atlantic in zero-emissions yacht to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit on September 23.

A photo taken from the 22nd floor of a New York City high-rise shows the immense size of the protest calling for “climate justice” to be an ethical obligation and not just an environmental issue.

The photo was taken from 45 Broadway, near Broadway and Exchange Place.

Check out the photo below:

CNN reporter Julia Vargas Jones has been on the ground in New York City capturing photos from the protests.

Here are some photos below:

Laura Copan, a graduate student at Loyola Marymount University, said she went to a smaller, local strike rather than the bigger one in downtown Los Angeles today.

“It made me happy to see that local people care,” she told CNN.

She added: “The protest was peaceful and a great way to start my morning. That says a lot because I’m not a morning person!”

Here’s a look at the rally:

Janet Janssen attended today’s strike in Austin, Texas tat the Texas State Capitol.

She told CNN she wanted to support the young people that are fighting for the future of the planet.

“I’ve seen some of the European cities and amazed so many turned out,” she said. “I think the young people are leading on this issue.”

Janssen said it’s time everyone get involved — and ask elected leaders to do the same.

Here’s what the Austin protest looked like:?

Students are marching in New York City as part of today’s global climate strike.

The city’s 1.1 million students?were allowed to skip school today after the city announced it would not penalize public school students joining the strike — but made it clear that the students did need parental consent.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted he supported the move: “New York City stands with our young people. They’re our conscience.”

Here’s a look at the march in New York City:

Student climate strikes in cities across the US’s East Coast have begun. Here’s a look at some of scenes:

Boston:

Philadelphia:

Portland, Maine:

Syracuse, New York:

Activists gather in John Marshall Park for the Global Climate Strike protests on September 20, 2019 in Washington, D.C.

Students — some as young as elementary school-age — have descended on John Marshall Park in Washington, DC.

Many of the students skipped school today despite being told that their absences will be considered unexcused. While some will be excused with a note from their parents, others tell CNN they are willing to accept whatever?consequences they receive in order to participate in the worldwide protests.?

Protesters lined up, holding banners that call for action and chanting, “This is what democracy looks like.”?

Organizers say they have been putting this together since mid-July. Some of the children who are suing the government over the issue are at the DC protest.?

The group is expected to march to Capitol Hill.

A group of nuns gathered in Silver Spring, Maryland, before heading into Washington, DC, for the climate strike.

The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas “are an order of Catholic Nuns that are committed to building a just world for all,” a spokesperson for the group told CNN.

“Caring for Earth is one of our 5 Critical Concerns and we have been inspired as youth around the world have been standing up to take action,” the spokesperson said.

When students arrived at the Maryland event, adults cheered them on. Watch the moment:

Tajiel Urioh took video of the climate strike in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

A marching band played in front of the protesters as they marched through the streets.

Take a look:

Protesters flooded the streets in Hamburg, Germany, today to demand action on the climate crisis.

This video shows what the rally looked like from above:

Sadrach Nirere, a coordinator for Friday for Future, Uganda, said it’s time that young people “rise up and add our voices together” as leaders tackle the climate crisis.

“We are rising for our future,” Nirere told CNN.

Schools, universities, local government workers and officials with the farmers association are participating in today’s rally.

Here’s how Nirere described the climate crisis in Uganda:

Student protesters and their allies gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, today.

Many carried signs as they marched. Here’s a look at some of the ones spotted in the crowd:

“There’s no planet B”

“In loving memory of Earth”

“Too old to care? That’s not fair!”

In New York City,?1.1 million pupils?will be allowed to skip school on Friday after the city announced it would not penalize public school students joining the strikes, but made it clear that the students did need parental consent.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted he supported the move: “New York City stands with our young people. They’re our conscience.”

Crowds will rally in downtown Manhattan at 12 p.m. ET, where a roster of young climate activists will speak, including Greta Thunberg, who?sailed to New York?to attend the UN Climate Action Summit.

Pooja Domadia, 29, is a volunteer for Friday For Future, Mumbai, a group that started striking in the Indian city’s public places this year.?The group is also protesting today.

He said the atmosphere at today’s protest is “incredible.” Students made posters and are chanting in the streets he said.

Here’s video from the strike:

Protests have been taking place on some of the Pacific island nations most under threat from the climate crisis.

The nation of Kiribati may be the first country to disappear under the rising sea levels of climate change. Its people fear their homeland may become the world’s next Atlantis.

Tuvalu is also facing the dire impacts of a changing climate right now.

The country already struggles with the rising sea. Between January and March, its seasonal “king tides” cause severe flooding, and it’s been that way for decades.

Earlier this year, CNN visited Tuvalu to see how locals are coping with climate change.

Last month, Australia thwarted a push by Pacific Island nations for more action on the climate crisis in an emotional forum at which one leader broke down in tears.

Australia, New Zealand and 16 Pacific Island nations?held talks at the Pacific Island Forum in the tiny island nation of Tuvalu on Thursday, eventually reaching an agreement after a?12-hour meeting.

But the final declaration was weaker than an earlier agreement by?smaller Pacific countries, which called for a rapid phasing out of coal and higher emission reduction targets.

Keara Donnachie, a PR and marketing manager at Scottish Book Trust, told CNN that people in Edinburgh, Scotland, went outside their offices to cheer on the climate change protesters.

“The atmosphere is amazing,” she said. “Lots of music and cheering, ‘climate change has got to go!’ Lots of families too, young ones in prams and others in wheelchairs,” she said.

Meanwhile, Waqas Tufail, a criminology professor, posted a video of Millennium Square in Leeds, England, packed with protesters.

“Climate change is killing the planet, and I’m worried about the future of my children,” he told CNN. “We need to act now, especially governments and corporations who damage the environment the most.”

“The atmosphere is unbelievable, it’s full of young people who are demanding action. It’s inspiring to be here among students, workers, and people young and old from all walks of life,” he said. “We are united in our demands for urgent action to save the planet.”

And in Cambridge, Rodrigo Arteaga, a PhD researcher at Cambridge University, told CNN he and his wife joined Extinction Rebellion UK to demand a Green New Deal and the enforcement of the Paris agreement. “It’s encouraging and empowering seeing all the kids and teens take to the streets and fight for their future,” he said.

“The kids are giving us a political lesson,” Arteaga added.

In Mumbai, a group of school children have gathered to make their voices heard.

Protests are well underway in major cities across central and eastern Europe. Here’s a look at the scenes in Poland, Ukraine and Germany.

Jean-Baptiste Redde at the Paris rally.

Paris is gearing up for its own rally, which is getting started now. A few hundred activists, mostly young people, are already in position at the Place de la Nation in the east of the city – and a few Yellow Vest protesters are peppered among the crowds.

Jean-Baptiste Redde, a 62-year-old from Bourgogne, told CNN why he’s traveled to the rally.

“The issue is that our leaders divide us. They forget all of those at the bottom of the pyramid, the weakest. We must stop fossil fuels, we need to fight against plastic and pesticides.”

“This should have been done ages ago. We need to act for everyone, for the Amazon, we are all together,” he added.

“We need to be the voice of the animals too. If animals could protest they would all be here! Elephants, ants and giraffes would take to the streets so I’m here representing them too.”

A balloon reads "There is no Planet B" at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

It’s lunchtime in western Europe, and cities across the continent are packed with protesters.

Greenpeace have tweeted a video from Berlin, where activists have been gathering near the Brandenburg Gate.

Greta Thunberg.

At certain points in history, when institutions and established leaders have failed to step up and take action, it falls to the youngest among us to take charge. That is happening again these two weeks as a 16-year-old girl from Sweden, Greta Thunberg,?takes center stage to mobilize the world against climate change.

Those of us who are older are reminded how young Americans rose up more than 50 years ago in the Civil Rights era. In May 1963, more than 1,000 young people in Birmingham, Alabama, marched through the city to call attention to racial injustice.

When many of the children marched again the next day, the notoriously racist sheriff Bull Connor set vicious police dogs on them. The?children were under attack?– by the dogs, clubs, fire hoses, and whatever means deemed necessary by the police. The television pictures that night sickened the nation.

The violence continued until the Department of Justice stepped in and the marches came to an end. But even as the marches stopped, the impact of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade continued to be felt.

The crusade offered moral clarity to the nation and?proved pivotal?in swaying President John F. Kennedy and Americans everywhere to urgently confront the need for racial justice.

But nowhere is their inaction more glaring than on the issues that threaten the safety of people everywhere and especially millennials and members of Generation Z: first guns and now climate change.

David Gergen is a CNN senior political analyst and professor of public leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he founded the Center for Public Leadership. James Piltch is Gergen’s chief research assistant. His writing on civic life and education has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Read more of their opinion piece here.

Strikers in Sydney.

Australia set the tone for the day of climate strikes on Friday, with massive crowds gathering in its major cities to kick off the global event.

Sydney was clogged by thousands of activists, while Melbourne’s Central Business District saw crowds spilling across multiple streets.

Adelaide also saw vast crowds, while Brisbane and Perth joined in on the action.

As it stretches into late afternoon and evening in the Asia Pacific region, Europe is now waking up – and ready to protest for climate action.

Photos from Berlin, Germany, show climate activists blocking road traffic by stretching hundreds of plastic cordons across a bridge.

Activists in Strasbourg, France, are gathering to push for clean vehicles under a goal of eliminating diesel and petrol cars by 2025, according to photos posted by Greenpeace Strasbourg.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan posted a video on Twitter early Friday morning, reaffirming his support.

“Here in London, City Hall staff have also been encouraged to observe the strike by taking time out of their day to send a message to the world that London demands more ambitious climate action from governments.”

There are more than 180 climate strikes, rallies, and events happening across the UK today, according to the organizer’s website.

Students in New Delhi, India, are joining the worldwide climate strike.

Pictures posted on Twitter by Greenpeace India show young people marching through the city with defiant signs. “Where is my right to breathe?” one reads.

Another sign bears the illustration of Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist who helped organize this round of global climate protests.

Climate change in India: Climate change has hit the country hard. Dry seasons are drier, leading to monthslong droughts that cause reservoirs to dry up. Earlier this summer, major cities like Chennai and New Delhi, home to tens of millions of people, nearly ran out of water.

Livestock and crops are dying, farmers are in despair, and rural residents are being forced from their homes due to lack of water.

Then, the wet seasons are delayed – prolonging the difficulties of the drought – and more intense. The sudden, heavy rainfall floods cities nearly every year now, causing death and destruction.

A store warns customers of a "climate strike" closure in Singapore on September 20.

Over 1,500 Amazon employees have pledged to walk out on Friday, and Microsoft workers have also said they will join the climate strikes.

Amazon Employees For Climate Justice, composed of Amazon employees, tweeted on Friday, “Our pollution harms people and communities around our logistics hubs. We must take responsibility for the impacts of our business.”

Hundreds of Google employees are striking too. “Tech is not ‘green.’ We stand with students and our peers across tech in support of the climate movement, in support of frontline communities, and in support of a livable future – we are committed to bold action across the tech industry, and beyond,” they said on Twitter.

Employees at Facebook and Twitter have also pledged to strike and march on Friday.

Not just tech: Many other companies are joining in. Outdoor clothing brand?Patagonia?has said it plans to shut down its operations on Friday to allow employees to join the Global Climate Strike.

The?Maritime Union of Australia has also reportedly said that that 380 stevedores – ship dock workers – from Hutchison Ports in Sydney would stop work from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time Friday to attend the climate strike, while the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in the UK has called on its members to?support the climate strikers.

In Victoria, Australia, students and public workers are being encouraged to walk out of school and work.

People hold a rally as part of a global climate change campaign at Sanur Beach in Bali, Indonesia.

Climate activists in Bali, Indonesia, are marching as part of today’s global climate strike.

People marched with placards at Sanur Beach, in the south of the resort island. The signs called for action on a number of different climate and environmental issues, including fracking, marine health and air pollution.

Indonesia’s forest fires: The issue of pollution and climate change is especially pressing in Indonesia, where sprawling fires in the Sumatra region have burned more than 328,000 hectares (about 800,000 acres).

Hundreds of residents evacuated, and more than?9,000 personnel?have been deployed to battle the flames.

The smoke, dust, and air pollution coming from the flames have made their way to the neighboring countries of Malaysia and Singapore, choking cities in a dense gray haze for weeks. Malaysian authorities distributed 2 million face masks to students in affected areas, state news agency Bernama reported Thursday.

Effect on climate: The fires also raise Indonesia’s contribution to climate change, as the land burned is extremely carbon rich. Environmental organizations like?Greenpeace?and the?World Wildlife Fund?have spoken out against the fires, calling for action to preserve the land.

Thick smoke from a forest fire nearly covers the sun over Pekanbaru in Riau province on September 18, 2019.

Protesters hold signs and chant slogans during the Hong Kong Climate Strike rally.

A few dozen activists and members of the Extinction Rebellion climate action movement are rallying in Hong Kong, where only about 1% of energy comes from renewable sources.

“Generally it’s about raising awareness about how serious the situation is,” she said. “The government should declare a climate and ecological emergency, and for Hong Kong (to be) carbon neutral by 2025 and to create citizen assemblies to decide the best way forward to become carbon neutral.”

A child at the Hong Kong climate strike on September 20, 2019.

Environmental activists stage a performance as part of a global climate strike in Seoul on Friday.

A small group of people are also striking in Seoul, South Korea, to demand faster action to tackle climate change.

Environmental activists staged a performance in central Seoul, using flashing eco-friendly LED lights to sign out “SOS” in Morse code.

Just 2% of South Korea’s energy sector is currently renewable, the International Energy Agency told CNN earlier this year.

The country has vowed to close 14 coal power plants as part of its?2050 Energy Vision Plan, but recently invested tens of billions of US dollars in coal, according to the World Energy Council.

Air pollution is a serious problem in South Korea.?The government declared it a “social disaster” in March?and passed a set of bills to tackle the problem after seven cities experienced record-high concentrations of harmful PM 2.5 particles.

Climate protest in front of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on September 20, 2019 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Crowds have gathered in Bangkok to march for climate action, under the protest slogan “Fridays for Future.”

Like the other marches happening worldwide today, this rally is strikingly young, with students in the mix and young voices conducting call-and-response chants.

“Unite behind climate science,” says one placard. Another sign has an illustration of the planet burning, and the words “Our home is on fire.”

Climate change effects: Cities like Bangkok are feeling the effects of climate change first hand – rising sea levels could cause residents to abandon the coastal city. Meanwhile, climate change has created hotter, wetter weather in already-tropical countries like Thailand, worsening the deadly dengue outbreak.

Students attend a protest march as part of the world's largest climate strike in Sydney on September 20, 2019.

The climate strikes have kicked off in Australia, with thousands of students, young people, and climate action activists taking to the streets.

A climate march in Melbourne has drawn more than 100,000 people, according to estimates from a Member of Federal Parliament.

Greens MP Adam Bandt, who represents the seat of Melbourne, tweeted:?“This is HUUUGE, Melbourne! Announcers just said over 100,000 people! #climateStrike #Greens,”

Thousands more are marching in Sydney and Brisbane, holding signs with climate action slogans.

“We’re coming out here today in solidarity. We’re coming together to say that this is not right.”?

Take a look:

The organizers of today’s climate strike say the crisis will most directly affect young people. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be an issue on everyone’s minds. They want allies.

What they want: Strikers are also demanding “climate justice” to cast the climate crisis as not just an environmental issue, but also an ethical obligation.

The hope is the strikes will show world leaders that it’s not just young people who want climate change to be addressed.

“September’s climate strikes will kickstart a huge wave of action and renewed ambition all over the world,” organizers say.

Today’s climate strikes come just days ahead of the?United Nations’ Climate Action Summit?on Monday.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has challenged world leaders to gather in New York and share “concrete, realistic plans” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He’s invited government, business and civil leaders.

On Saturday, the UN is also hosting a Youth Climate Summit – the first of its kind. The program will bring together “young activists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and change-makers who are committed to addressing the global climate emergency.

What are some daily changes a single person can make to make less of a carbon footprint?

Jonathan Foley, an environmental scientist and the executive director of the climate solutions organization?Project Drawdown, explained some of the options:?

We can all help address the climate crisis at home but that’s no substitute for good policy, changes in technology, and shifting business practices and investments.?We need to do it all – at the local, state, and national level.

New York City’s 1.1 million public school students will be excused from class if they participate in today’s global climate strike, according to the city’s department of education.?

There’s one catch: The students need parental permission. Elementary school students will need to leave school with a parent.?

Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted his support of the strike, saying that, “New York City stands with our young people. They’re our conscience.”?

Swedish teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg — one of the organizers of the global climate strike — will lead New York City’s arm of the movement.

And she had a commute that would intimidate even seasoned New Yorkers: The young activist, who no longer takes planes because of their carbon impact, sailed from Sweden to New York on a zero-emissions boat.?

Thunberg rose to prominence after staging weekly sit-ins at the Swedish parliament. Her protests inspired teen activists to hold their own protests.

The 16-year old appeared in front of Congress before a hearing on climate change earlier this week. However, instead of delivering prepared remarks, she submitted the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on global warming, which reported a temperature increase of 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels.?

Thunberg also shared a fist bump with former President Barack Obama. He told her: “You and me, we’re a team.”

Students and workers are walking out today to demand their governments take action on climate crisis.

As of Tuesday, 4,638 events were slated to take place in 139 countries,?according to teen activist Greta Thunberg, one of the organizers.

The protests aim to put pressure on leaders at the United Nations’ Climate Action Summit, which will take place in New York City on Monday.

But the movement goes far beyond New York: There are sit-ins, marches, and festivals planned in Nepal, Bangladesh, Ukraine, the Philippines, Nairobi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among other nations.?

The individual strikes are being organized by young people around the world, like activists Thunberg and Xiuhtezcatl Martinez. The teens are also supported by international sponsors like Greenpeace, Oxfam, and World Wildlife Fund.