Fridays for Future

On our last day in Berlin, we were walking towards the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe on what seemed like a regular Friday afternoon. There were a few more people in the streets than we expected, but we chalked it up to tourism. However, turning around a corner, we were greeted by tens of thousands of kids. Children ranging from four or five years old all the way up into late teenage years filled the streets. Chanting and singing echoed throughout the street, and we were eager to see what they were so worked up about. Signs were held above the crowd saying things like “Wake Up Humans! You’re Endangered Too!” and “There Is No Planet B!!” Adults pushed toddlers in strollers and cops lined the march, making sure that peace was kept. It is also worth noting that the path of the protest passed multiple embassies, including the United States embassy. Due to the US’s lack of action climate-wise, it is likely not a reach to assume this was taken into consideration when the path of the protest march was chosen.

“Fridays for Future” is an active protest movement that is taking place in Germany and around the world. Every Friday in Germany, children in cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Cologne, and many more skip school to protest the lack of action regarding climate change. These absences from school seem to be supported by the kids’ parents, as many adults walked with their kids in the streets. We were overcome by the sheer number of protestors we saw last Friday. It became evident that this is an issue people are willing to fight for, and parents seem to support.

The start of these protests can be traced back to 2015 when an independent group of students invited peers around the world to protest on the first day of COP21, the UNFCCC Climate Conference. On November 30th, the first day of the conference, a strike was organized in over 100 countries with over 50,000 people participating. Their demands centered around 100 percent clean energy, keeping fossil fuel emissions down, and helping climate refugees (people who are forced to leave their home region due to sudden or long-term changes to their local environment). On August 20th 2018, Greta Thunberg, a Swedish ninth grader, decided not to attend school until the 2018 Sweden general election on September 9th after a series of heat waves and wildfires in Sweden. On September 7th of the same year, Greta grabbed national attention when she announced she would continue striking every Friday until Sweden opted into the Paris Agreement. It was then that she coined the Fridays for Future slogan. Students around the world were inspired by her actions and the movement began to spread. The movement has grown rapidly and is widespread today. On March 15th 2019, an estimated 1.4 million people protested in over 2000 cities and over 100 countries, signaling the strength of the movement.

Blog by Lizzie Wysession and Kyle Hatten