GEORGE NEWS - Last Friday, 27 September, 30 passionate Garden Route locals gathered outside the Old Town Hall building in York Street, George as part of the global climate strike inspired by the Swedish climate change campaigner, teenager Greta Thunberg, and the #FridaysforFuture movement.
This was their second protest in George, after they kicked off the local leg of the climate awareness campaign with a similar action on 20 September.
#FridaysForFuture is a movement that began in August 2018, after the then 15-year-old Thunberg sat in front of the Swedish parliament every school day for three weeks, to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis. She posted what she was doing on Instagram and Twitter and it soon went viral.
Paris Agreement
On 8 September 2018, Thunberg decided to continue striking every Friday until the Swedish policies provided a safe pathway in line with the Paris Agreement. The hashtags #FridaysForFuture and #Climatestrike spread like wildfire and many students and adults began to protest outside their parliaments and local city halls all over the world.
The Paris Agreement's long-term temperature goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1,5°C. After Thunberg addressed the world's leaders at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit in New York City on 23 September, the 16-year-old became a household name overnight with her "How dare you?" speech eliciting strong reaction from supporters and detractors alike. Last Friday, 27 September, was a specifically significant date as it marked the end of a week of worldwide protests that saw around 7,6 million people take to the streets to demand action to address climate change.
Love her or hate her, global climate activist Greta Thurnburg from Sweden, is making waves. Photo: Twitter
Local effort
One of the local climate activists, Jane Kennedy, says the George strike was initiated by ordinary citizens who support the international movement with the aim of drawing attention to the issues around climate change that have already begun to impact us all. Similar strikes were held in other parts of South Africa. "Despite being only the 25th largest population in the world, South Africa is the 14th largest emitter of carbon dioxide," says Kennedy.
"South Africans are beginning to express their concerns and it is time our government stopped making things worse by burning Eskom's dirty coal and trumpeting Brulpadda gas finds. Global warming increases the risk of drought, floods and disease. The water shortages, hunger and health risks which result from extreme weather will have the most severe impact on Africa's poor. Our region faces the effects of cyclone Idai as well as the impact of years of dryer, hotter weather, and yet, plans for economic growth are still tied to fossil fuel usage," Kennedy warns.
Join in
A regular, ongoing strike is planned for future Fridays between 12:00 and 13:00 outside the Old Town Hall building in York Street and all are welcome to come along and share their own thoughts and fears around the climate breakdown.
More formal information sessions and action are in the pipeline for the future.
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