“I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is.”
These were the words of 16-year-old Greta Thunberg when she spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos back in January 2019. After travelling 32 hours on a train to get there, the Swedish teenager wasn’t pulling any punches when addressing the assembled world leaders, accusing decision-makers of sacrificing values to continue making “unimaginable amounts of money”, adding that “many of you here today belong to that group of people.” This is the person who once described herself as “the invisible girl at the back that no one sees or listens to.” Well, no longer. The unassuming Thunberg has single-handedly mobilized swathes of young people across continents to fight for the future of our planet with her ‘Skolstrejk för klimatet’ (School Strike for Climate) every Friday since 20thAugust 2018. This Friday, adults have been invited to join in. It is estimated that several million people in at least 140 countries will take part in a global climate strike that will mark the beginning of the “Week For Future” which will surround the UN Climate Summit on 23rdSeptember – the very summit Thunberg sailed across the Atlantic to attend. Never underestimate the power of a teenage girl. Especially one on a mission.
Noga Levy-Rapoport is another determined teenager who is taking matters into her own hands. The 17-year-old Londoner, who has just started sixth form, led the London climate strike march on 15thFebruary. “I remember the day really clearly. We came and there was no march planned. But I felt this frustration because I wanted to march, I wanted to move, to take over these roads – us standing on the grass just wasn’t enough – we needed to be the loudest we’ve ever been.” So she found a megaphone and led people down the street. Now she is an organiser with the UK Student Climate Network and will be speaking at the Central London strike on Friday.
To the world leaders, the message is clear: you are taking away our future. Levy-Rapoport says she wants them to “listen to us, hear our demands; we’re strong, we’re united, and we’re speaking very clearly on a very clear principle that there is only one solution to climate change and that is climate justice.” The focus of their demands is the Green New Deal, a set of guidelines to restructure the economy in order to eliminate the nation’s emissions in one decade and limit global warming to 1.5C. She says; “We will make the streets – the country – ungovernable until you [the government] respond to our demands.”
Having taken part in numerous youth climate strikes, Levy-Rapoport describes the experience of protesting alongside other young people as being “incredibly empowering”. “It’s a very powerful thing to be in a generation that’s so marred by political crises that now we’re in this situation where we are just taking a stand.” She says that they are building on Britain’s rich history of strike action, and she believes politicians are listening. “I think Parliament have made it very clear that our presence is known and our presence is felt.”
Several party leaders are due to address the crowd at the London strike, although she’s tight-lipped on who they might be. She says; “I’m getting more and more excited for Friday, simply because I’m genuinely not sure we’ve witnessed a protest at this scale before.” 1.5 million people attended the global strike in March, “but I think it’s going to be far, far beyond that, which will be incredible.”
Tolly Gregory will also be protesting in Cheltenham, alongside her local Extension Rebellion group. The 19-year-old sustainable fashion blogger took part in the group’s action against London Fashion Week on Wednesday, where protestors staged a funeral to call for the end of the event in its current form. On the youth strike movement, she says; “It’s relieving to know you’re not alone and that there are thousands (hundreds of thousands, even) of people your age who want exactly what you want. We’re so often unheard, especially in the political sphere with the voting age being 18, so, it gives us power in a new way.”
According to Gregory, adults are now beginning to listen – “even if it’s only on a minor scale like around the dinner table at home”. But for now, it’s the youth who are leading the way. “The kids are bringing the parents to the protest, not the other way around,” she says. Her message to world leaders is simple: “Act now or have more blood on your hands than you already do.”
Cyrus Jarvis, 16, has only missed one youth climate strike since he began striking in February, as he had to take a GCSE exam. He says that protesting makes him feel hopeful and energetic. “The sense of solidarity between all of us is immense and it’s an experience you don’t really find anywhere else.” He explains that he started striking after reading that “urgent action was needed within 12 years so that the climate crisis could be tackled, and that a catastrophic chain of events would happen otherwise.” This made him want to take a stand.
Jarvis will be centre stage of Friday’s strike in London, as one of the students presenting the speakers and musicians. He says he’s excited to see “how much of an impact we can make this time”. To the people criticising the young people for missing school to take part in the strikes, he says: “Please do something yourselves! If people were pushing for action then our generation wouldn’t have had to take the issue into our own hands in the first place.”
They certainly have taken the issue of climate change into their own hands, and with Greta Thunberg as their leader, there’s no stopping them. As Thunberg herself once said: “You are never too small to make a difference.”
