From New Zealand and Japan to Germany and the Democratic Republic of Congo, activists walked out of schools, universities and workplaces to demand rich countries pay for the damage global warming is causing to the poor. In the last day of action of the Fridays For Future movement, strikes “for climate redress and justice” were planned in around 450 locations around the world. The protests come six weeks before the Cop27 climate summit, where developing countries plan to push for compensation for climate-related damage to homes, infrastructure and livelihoods. The past few months have seen deadly floods inundate large parts of Pakistan, fires ravaging northern Africa, Europe and North America and record-breaking heatwaves in Britain and India. “We are striking around the world because responsible governments are still doing too little for climate justice,” said Darya Sotoodeh, the group’s representative in Germany. Over 100 people participated in the climate strike in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), India. Photo: Jagadeesh Nv/EPA “One day, it might flood my house,” said 15-year-old Park Chae-yun, one of about 200 protestors in Seoul, South Korea. “I live with a sense of crisis, so I think it’s more important to take my concerns to the government to take preventive measures rather than going to school.” The largest strike took place in Berlin, with police in the German capital estimating that 20,000 took part in a rally calling on their government to set up a €100 billion fund to tackle the climate crisis. Around 400 young activists gathered in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa, chanting “Act for Africa, protect our planet”. They walked onto the shoulder of a busy street holding paper signs that read “Climate Justice” and “Climate SOS.” In Rome, 5,000 young people took part in a march that ended near the Colosseum. One held a placard that read: “The climate is changing. Why aren’t we?’ Denmark is the only wealthy country so far to boost funding for the problem of “loss and damage” from climate-related disasters, announcing at the UN assembly this week that it will provide DKK 100m (£12m) to deal with it. A statement on the Fridays For Future website said: “Settlers and capitalists are at the core of every system of oppression that has caused the climate crisis, and decolonization, using the tool of climate reparations, is the best kind of climate action.” The Fridays For Future youth movement was launched in 2018, inspired by Greta Thunberg’s solitary protests outside the Swedish parliament. It peaked in November 2019, when 4 million people took part in 4,500 actions around the world on a Friday.
