- The so-called global climate strike is part of a movement led by 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg that has already seen a year of children leaving school to protest. Friday's protests invite adults to join.
- Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in Australia, Thailand, Bangladesh, and are due to continue around the world.
Photos show huge protests around the world, where hundreds of thousands are striking to demand action on climate change
Millions of people are expected to walk out of school and work on Friday, kicking off a week of protests calling for action to combat climate change.
Millions of people around the world are expected to walk out of school and work on Friday, as part of the global climate strike inspired by 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.
It is the first of several planned events ahead of and during the United Nations Climate Action Summit next week.
The strikes started in Australia on Friday morning, where School Strike 4 Climate , the organizers of the event, say over 300,000 people took part across the country. They are spreading across the planet over the course of today.
"This is basically the only way to have our voice heard," Nishtha Sharma, 17, of Melbourne, Australia told Business Insider.
Here's a look at some of the protests:
Organizers say over 300,000 people took part in the protests across Australia. Here, protesters march in Melbourne.
Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images
This photograph shows a huge crowd in a Sydney park.
Kym Chapple
It was tweeted by Kym Chapple, a politician for Australia's Greens Party.
The protests are led by school students, who started the movement this year by skipping school on Fridays to call for government action on climate change.
Rosie Perper/Business Insider
The students reject the common criticism that they should be in school.
Danielle Porepilliasana, a high school student in Sydney, said: "World leaders from everywhere are telling us that students need to be at school doing work. I'd like to see them at their parliaments doing their jobs for once."
Source: Reuters
Some protesters joked about how they were skipping school for the day.
Glenn Hunt/Getty Images
The top 10 carbon emitters in the country also took questions from schoolchildren on Friday.
People of all ages including babies, toddlers, teens, and adults gathered across the country.
Rosie Perper/Business Insider
"I'm worried about the animals," 9-year-old Maeve, from Melbourne, told Business Insider.
"I'm worried about the ice melting which isn't very good."
The protests are now spreading across the planet.
Glenn Hunt/Getty Images
In Thailand, people protested in front of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in Bangkok.
Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images
They staged a "die-in," an attempt to symbolize the consequences of climate change. They also delivered a letter to the government calling on it to declare a climate emergency and phase out coal.
Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images
Students gathered on Marovo Island in the Solomon Islands an island chain close to Papua New Guinea.
350 PACIFIC/via REUTERS.
The Solomon Islands, located in the Pacific, are already experiencing the effects of rising sea levels, flooding, and erosion. Communities have had to relocate on these low-lying islands, and several reef islands have been lost to the sea.
Source: The Conversation
And students gathered in low-lying Bangladesh, calling for political leadership.
Allison Joyce/Getty Images
Adults also took part in the protest. Here, people in Dhaka, Bangladesh, demand action.
Allison Joyce/Getty Images
There was also a protest in Hong Kong.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
The protests are now spreading into Europe as the school and work day begins. Here, demonstrators block traffic in Frankfurt, Germany.
Boris Roessler/picture alliance via Getty Images
400 protests have been announced across Germany along.
See Also:
- A viral video that sparked theories of a Chinese Loch Ness Monster turned out to show a big piece of discarded rubber
- A 17-year-old activist from Afghanistan is locked out of the UN climate summit because of a visa rejection
- Women share what it's like to have 'ticking time bomb' breast implants that have been linked to cancer
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