REVIEW - 'Phenomenal' Scale Of Global Climate Strikes Could Signal New Call For Action

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2019) The hundreds of thousands of anti-climate change protesters taking to the streets across the world are a heartening, yet troubling indication that humanity faces a struggle, experts told Sputnik.

Inspired by previous actions, originally instigated by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg, protests are believed to have spread to 150 nations, in many instances being made up largely of school students. Thunberg, who first shot to fame at the age of fifteen by taking time off school to protest outside the Swedish Parliament on climate change, has arguably become a symbol for youth activists otherwise alarmed at the prospect of environmental catastrophe, having repeatedly called on politicians at home and abroad to implement more sustainable energy policies.

NEW GENERAL OF CLIMATE ACTIVISTS STEPPING UP

"The environment is an issue that we all care about but so little is being done by governments," said Sarah, a student from London, who joined the protest at Millbank. "What kind of life might we have if nothing is done now, or in the future what kind of life might our own children have? This is why action everywhere, today, is important," she added.

Some argue that the fact that school students appear to now be leading the way is itself an indication of how severe the environmental crisis has become. Speaking to Sputnik, Donnachadh McCarthy, founder of the Climate Media Coalition and member of the eco-activist group Extinction Rebellion (XR), argued such a spectacle was indicative of past failures in tackling climate change, at home and elsewhere.

"I think it's really important what the kids are doing but also very emotional. The idea that the kids have to to turn out in the thousands to protest to us adults to make sure there's still a planet there for them is quite terrible," he said.

Mr McCarthy also singled out the UK government, specifically, for its alleged inaction, claiming that the recently announced target of 2050 for a net reduction in carbon emissions was mere rhetoric in the face of practical denial.

UK STRIVES TO KEEP UP WITH STRUGGLE

Amid multiple controversies around its policies to mitigate climate change effects, the United Kingdom has been on track to a greener economy for years now.

On June 27 the United Kingdom became the first country to enshrine a net zero carbon emission target by 2050 in legislation, albeit it partly through the use of "carbon credits" that groups such as Greenpeace have previously criticized.

"Basically I would regard 2050 as a form of denialism," Mr McCarthy said, "it's another stage of the establishment trying to negotiate not actually doing anything. There's no way we are reacting at the level needed and the kind of investment we need to see."

Commenting as a sizable crowd, including many students opting out of school, gathered in London and other cities across the United Kingdom, Shahrar Ali, former deputy leader and now home affairs spokesman for the Green Party, argued the time had come for politics to catch up with science to achieve a real resolution to the climate crisis.

"The scale of the demonstration is phenomenal, both in cities across the UK and globally. This is the single most important issue of our time, and children are showing up the inaction of their parents and politicians like never before," he told Sputnik.

In January, the UK government introduced its new air pollution reduction program, the Clean Air Strategy, in line with WHO recommendations and EU standards. It stipulated that the United Kingdom ban sales of conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles starting from 2040, provide financial support to farmers so that they invest more in equipment and techniques that produce fewer emissions, and curb sales of most polluting fuels, among other measures.

In May, the UK parliament declared a "climate emergency" following a series of protests by environmental activists, but as recently as in August, a poll revealed that 71 percent of UK residents were concerned about the impact of air pollution on their health and 69 percent said that the UK government should do more to reduce the current air pollution levels.

"What I would give to bottle just half of the political energy that is being consumed over Brexit omnishambles in Westminster and redirect it towards action on (the) climate emergency! We need to change what is politically possible to achieve what is scientifically necessary," Ali added.