Fridays for future

The visit of the young climate activist Greta Thunberg mobilized thousands of students who came to the Hamburg City Hall to express their engagement for environment and climate protection. The #fridays for future movement that is inspired by the Swedish student is growing all across the world. Meanwhile, also in Japan, Columbia, Australia and the US young people are going on school strike for the climate.

 

„We don’t bunk off from school. We are doing more than that. We are pointing the way because nobody else is doing that, not even politics. And we are becoming more and more", emphasized a student. „We need attention from anyone so that we can still stop climate change. Each of us has a responsibilty and is capable of changing something. We are all citizen on this earth and it is up to us, to protect it so that we can continue to live here.“

 

 

 

In the past years it has become much warmer“, underlines the climate sctientist Mobij Latif. „We are seeing that the poles are melting, we see that the sea levels are rising and we have a more extreme weather. Although we are knowing this since more than 100 years, nothing is happening." The first climate conference already took place 40 years ago. „Since that time politics promised to act. The first political climate conference  took place in Berlin in 1995. It always happened the opposite of that what was supposed to happen. The carbon emissions have been increasing."  Even after the COP21 in Paris in 2015 the carbon emissions were going up more. „That’s why it is important to stand up. And we need to be even more so that things will happen politically“, said Latif.

 

The young climate activists were also addressed by  Frank Otto, President of the Hamburg Climate Week as well as Co-founder of the German Sea Foundation. „The oceans are adsorbing the carbon emissions that leads to an overacidfication of the seas", Otto pointed out. This is why there is a lack of calcium in the oceans which is crucial for the development of shells, krill and corals. Otto called the student to use their communication and cooperation skills to inform others about  climate-damaging behavior.

 

 

Many students are already aware that sustainable consuption plays a key role. "We can buy less things that we don’t need. "We can eat less meat and animal products. We can donate clohes if we don’t need them anymore instead of wasting them", said a student. "But the most important is to do that what we are here for today. We can share this message as far as possible."

 

If the carbon emissions won’t  be reduced and no specific actions are taken to waste less resources and to produce less waste, the young generation can’t just watch what is happening. "Tallking is cheap, we want to see actions. But if nobody will take some action, then it is up to us to remind us of our responsibility. And that is why we are here.“

 

Photos/ Video: © GFS