Thousands of scientists are backing the kids striking for climate change

A February climate protest by students in London. Since January, Vanessa Nakate has been spending Friday mornings on strike. Sometimes alone, sometimes with her friends or siblings, the 22-year-old has been protesting on the streets of the Ugandan capital, Kampala, coming in late to her job selling car batteries. She strikes at different locations around the city, one week setting up in front of a supermarket, another outside parliament buildings. But her protests have a singular focus: to draw attention to climate change and urge her government to take action. This Friday 15 March, a few friends will join Nakate. But they won’t be alone. In about 1,700 cities in more than 100 countries — from Nepal to Vanuatu — thousands of young people are planning to walk out of schools to demand that adults do more to combat climate change. “I hope the strike is just like a massive, massive wake-up call for policymakers and CEOs of massive corporations,” says 18-year-old student Ummi Hoque, who learned about the strikes through friends and social media and will join a demonstration in London. She hopes that the protests will dispel stereotypes that young people are lazy, and encourage governments to […]

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