March 15, 2019
On March 15, 2019, around 1.6 million young people and allies joined the School Strike for Climate at more than 2,200 locations in over 120 countries around the world. The historic day of action reached every continent and demonstrated the power, strength and soul-searing clarity of the messages driving #FridaysForFuture, a movement initiated and led by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Greta has been on school strike every Friday since August 2018. She was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.
The March 15th strike has been called the single biggest day of global climate action ever. Parley joined the youth on strike in New York outside the United Nations and City Hall, at Columbus Circle, and on the steps of the American Museum of Natural History. Our crew was also present in Indonesia, Italy, Australia, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Hawaii and beyond.
To those who say the students ought to be at their desks rather than in the streets, or even that these kids have been “brainwashed,” the students have a smart reply: “we’re out here because we’ve done our homework.” Now they’re asking world leaders to stop procrastinating on theirs.
Venice by Giacomo Cosua
“If not even the scientists, politicians, media and the UN currently can speak up on what exactly needs to be done to ‘solve’ the climate crisis (dramatically lowering our emissions starting today), then how could we, some schoolchildren, know? How can you leave that burden to us? Once you have done your homework, you realize that we need new politics. We need new economics, where everything is based on our declining and extremely limited carbon budget. But that is not enough. We need a whole new way of thinking.”
– Greta Thunberg, age 16
New York City by Ryan Dorsett
“If your child was trapped in a room with a furnace that was getting hotter and hotter, risking the life of your child, what would you do? You would turn it off. That is what you would do… We are telling you we are trapped, and the time has come for you to turn the furnace off and save us all.”
– Alexandria Villaseñor, age 13
New York City by Henny Garfunkel
“Like a house, you must repair it, sweep the floors, wash the dishes, repair a boiler, etc. In summary, you must keep it clean. In this case, the planet is our home, and we too must care for it and keep it clean. Let us create a clean, kind, and beautiful world where we can all live united as one and live in peace.”
– Jude Batiste, age 13
Townsville, Australia by Ingo Miller
"The great thing happening here today is all because of one girl, Greta, who made us understand that one person can make a difference. From Sweden, it travelled the whole world... her point of view has become the point of view of millions of people. My message is keep fighting, keep wanting things to change."
– Samuele, age 17
Dominican Republic by Fran Afonso
“Our message is that we need change. We need to have a future that we can live in. We need to have an equal opportunity to what [today’s adults] received as kids. We need reform, we need laws to be created, we need leaders to do something about this… All we want is a future.”
– Spencer Berg, age 16
