Greater Victoria students flood the lawns of the B.C. Legislature Friday to join a global strike to demand climate action.
The mobilization is part of a sustained campaign by youth to put pressure on adults, governments and corporations to divest from fossil fuels and invest in post-carbon, renewable energy infrastructure.
The strikes are inspired by the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who started the School Strike for Climate in August of 2018.
Greater Victoria students flood the lawns of the B.C. Legislature to join a global strike to demand climate action.@VictoriaNews #yyj #YouthStrike4Climate pic.twitter.com/du5g9Gsl3K
— Keri Coles (@KeriColesPhotog) May 3, 2019
RELATED: Greater Victoria youth strike for their future as part of global movement
A 2018 report of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) outlines the drastic measures needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 C – the rate that will substantially reduce the risks and effects of climate change.
The report said meeting the ambitious goal “would require rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.”
“The IPCC report states that we have 11 years to get to 40 per cent emission reductions by 2030,” said 13-year-old Rebecca Wolf Gage, one of the leaders of the strike in Victoria. “Fracking is still continuing in B.C. and we don’t even have a full climate plan. So if our future is doomed why do we go to school? Why don’t we try to save our future? As one of my friends says: Our future is being stolen, we are here to take it back.”
RELATED: Victoria youth head to B.C. Legislature for climate strike
Friday’s protest began at Victoria City Hall before students marched down Government Street to rally at the legislature.
keri.coles@blackpress.ca
Follow us on Instagram
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich—Gulf Islands, speaks to the crowd at the youth strike for climate change at the B.C. Legislature Friday. (Keri Coles/News staff)
A panel of city councillors and MLAs answers questions at the youth strike for climate change at the B.C. Legislature Friday. (Keri Coles/News staff)
A panel of city councillors and MLAs answers questions at the youth strike for climate change at the B.C. Legislature Friday. (Keri Coles/News staff)
There was a strong turnout at the youth strike for climate change at the B.C. Legislature Friday. (Keri Coles/News staff)
There was a strong turnout at the youth strike for climate change at the B.C. Legislature Friday. (Keri Coles/News staff)
