YOUNGSTERS in Redditch will join thousands across the country in the latest Youth Strike 4 Climate protest, demanding action on climate change.
A protest is planned outside Redditch Town Hall, opposite the Palace Theatre this coming Friday, March 15 from 10am to 2pm.
They’ll be adding their voice to more than 60 strikes across the UK as local youngsters join the global movement to save Planet Earth.
Local teenager Alisha Zahid, aged 16, said she had no qualms about missing a day at college.
“We believe that protesting to save the planet on Friday is more important that attending school,” she said.
“After all, what’s the point of going to school to study for our futures if there’s no longer a planet left?”
This latest protest follows one a fortnight ago and comes amid dire warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that there is only a dozen years left for global warming to be capped at a maximum of 1.5C.
Climate change scientists say if that figure is breached it will significantly increase the likelihood of droughts, floods and extreme heat.
The planet is already 1C warmer than it was in pre-industrial times and boffins say the effects of global warming are already becoming apparent.
“This is so important – and we’re doing this with the full knowledge and support of our families,” said Alisha.
Green Party deputy leader Amelia Womack, who was in Redditch on Saturday and met the campaigners, said: “It is so important young people stand up for their future.
“For too long this issue has been ignored by the powers that be and little has changed and now we have just 12 years to take positive action.
“I fully young people taking action like this otherwise what sort of future will they have if nothing is done?”
Redditch youngsters will be joining people protesting from Fort Williams in the north to Truro in the south and all points in between.
For more information visit https://ukscn.org/ys4c
