Thunberg joins large German climate rally

Tens of thousands of environmental activists, including Greta Thunberg, the face of a global youth climate movement, staged a rally outside Germany’s parliament Friday, two days before the country holds a national election, to demand that politicians take stronger action to curb climate change, reported AP. The protest held in the capital, Berlin, was part of a string of rallies around the world amid dire warnings the planet faces dangerous temperature rises unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut sharply in the coming years.

This includes a string of rallies around the world, from Japan, Indian and Nigeria to Greece, Italy and Britain. Across Germany alone, hundreds of thousands of marchers joined similar protests in several cities and towns. The idea for a global “climate strike” was inspired by teenage Swedish activist Thunberg’s solo protest in Stockholm three years ago. It snowballed into a mass movement until the coronavirus pandemic put a stop to large gatherings. Activists have only recently started staging smaller gatherings. Thunberg, 18, addressed the rally outside the Reichstag from a stage, telling the crowd that voting is important but must be coupled with protests that put politicians under constant pressure. Thunberg and prominent German climate activist Luisa Neubauer accused politicians of falling short, saying the programs of the main parties weren’t far-reaching enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) — the more ambitious limit in the 2015 Paris climate accord.