Posted on 2 March 2019 by John Hartz

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Youth climate strikers: 'We are going to change the fate of humanity'

Exclusive: Students issue an open letter ahead of global day of action on 15 March, when young people are expected to strike across 50 nations

Read the climate strikers’ letter 

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg speaking at a protest in front of the city hall in Hambourg, Germany. Photograph: Axel Heimken/Getty

The students striking from schools around the world to demand action on climate change have issued an uncompromising open letter stating: “We are going to change the fate of humanity, whether you like it or not.”

The letter, published by the Guardian, says: “United we will rise on 15 March and many times after until we see climate justice. We demand the world’s decision makers take responsibility and solve this crisis. You have failed us in the past. [But] the youth of this world has started to move and we will not rest again.”

The Youth Strikes for Climate movement is not centrally organised, so keeping track of the fast growing number of strikes is difficult, but many are registering on FridaysForFuture.org. So far, there are almost 500 events listed to take place on 15 March across 51 countries, making it the biggest strike day so far. Students plan to skip school across Western Europe, from the US to Brazil and Chile, and from Australia to Iran, India and Japan. 

Youth climate strikers: 'We are going to change the fate of humanity' by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Mar 1, 2019

Links posted on Facebook

Sun Feb 24, 2019

• Super Typhoon Wutip Hits 155 mph: Strongest February Typhoon on Record by Jeff Masters, Category 6, Weather Underground, Feb 23, 2019
• Everyone loves solar': Climate action heats up as NSW election issue by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Feb 24, 2019
• The Hard Lessons of Dianne Feinstein’s Encounter with the Young Green New Deal Activists, Opinion by Bill McKibben, New Yorker Magazine, Feb 23, 2019
• The Climate Science Behind The Green New Deal - A Layperson's Explanation by Marshall Shepherd, Science, Forbes, Feb 24, 2019
• This is an emergency, damn it by David Roberts, Energy & Environment, Vox, Feb 23, 2019
• White House to set up panel to counter climate change consensus, officials say by Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey & Brady Dennis, Health & Science, Washington Post, Feb 24, 2019
• A Centuries-Old Idea Could Revolutionize Climate Policy by Robinson Meyer, Science, The Atlantic, Feb 19, 2019

Mon Feb 25, 2019

• Climate plan "not pie in the sky" before election, says Spain by Isla Binnie, Reuters, Feb 22, 2019
• German climate law draft calls for net-zero emissions by 2050 by Julian Wettengel, Clean Energy Wire/Climate Home News, Feb 22, 2019
• EU's Juncker proposes billions of spending on climate change after a 16-year-old's speech by Anmar Frangoul, CNBC, Feb 22, 2019
• A Green New Deal Is Technologically Possible. Its Political Prospects Are Another Question. by Lisa Friedman & Trip Gabriel, Politics. New York Times, Feb 21, 2019
• The Ocean Is Running Out of Breath, Scientists Warn by Laura Poppick, Earth, Scientific American, Feb 25, 2019
• Don't trust the adults in the room on climate change, Opinion by Kate Aronoff, Comment is Free, Guardian, Feb 25, 2019
• Evidence for man-made global warming hits 'gold standard' - scientists by Alister Doyle, Reuters, Feb 25, 2019
• It is absolutely time to panic about climate change by Sean Illing, Energy & Environment, Vox, Feb 24, 2019

Tue Feb 26, 2019

• UK experiences winter temperatures above 20C for first time by Poppy Noor, Guardian, Feb 25, 2019
• Exxon asks U.S. regulator to block climate-change resolution - investors by Suzanne Barlyn, Reuters/EuroNews, Feb 25, 2019
• The new divide in the climate change fight: Immediately vs. eventually by Philip Bump, Politics, Washington Post, Feb 25, 2019
• Meet The Ostriches Under Consideration For Trump’s Anti-Science Climate Panel by Chris D'Angelo, Politics, HuffPost, Feb 26, 2019
• 3 clean energy myths that can lead to a productive climate conversation by Karen Kirk, Yale Climate Connections, Feb 21, 2019
• Disband your climate denial panel, Mr. President, Opinion by John Kerry, Washington Post, Jan 26, 2019
• Humans are frogs in hot water of climate change, research says by Jen Christensen, CNN, Feb 25, 2019
• Climate change: CO2 emissions fall in 18 countries with strong policies, study finds by Nicole Mortillaro, CBC News, Feb 25, 2019

Wed Feb 27, 2019

• Carbon farming: how agriculture can both feed people and fight climate change by Richard Lindsay, The Conversation UK, Feb 26, 2019
• Can geoengineering slow climate change, or will it be used as an excuse not to cut emissions? by Eric Campbell, ABC News (Australia), Feb 25, 2019
• The Uninhabitable Earth review: Astonishingly reductive view of impending disaster by John Gibbons, Culture, The Irish Times, Feb 23, 2019
• UK experiences hottest winter day ever as 21.2C is recorded in London by Amma Mohdin, Environment, Guardian, Jan 26, 2019
• Costa Rica launches 'unprecedented' push for zero emissions by 2050 by Sebastian Rodriguez, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Jan 25, 2019
• Climate change: Democratic lawmaker rips Donald Trump's panel on climate science as 'dangerous' by Ledyard King, USA Today, Feb 26, 2019
• It's been extreme': Australia's summer smashes seasonal heat records by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Feb 27, 2019
• Climate Denial Hearing Fizzles in House, But Testimony Highlights Its Damaging Impacts by Dana Drugmand, Climate liability News, Feb 27, 2019

Thu Feb 28, 2019

• Scientists warn global warming could decimate fish supplies and fuel migration by Erin Cobby, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Feb 27, 2019
• Climate Change, ISIS and Cyberattacks Are Seen as the World's Top Threats in a New Pew Poll by Casey Quackenbush, Time Magazine, Feb 11, 2019
• Skeptics Are Being Recruited for an "Adversarial" Review of Climate Science by Scott Waldman, E&E News/Scientific American, Feb 25, 2019
• A Green New Deal is fiscally responsible. Climate inaction is not, Opinion by Justin Talbot Zorn, Ben Beachy & Rhiana Gunn-Wright, Comment is Free, Guardian, Feb 25, 2019
• Renewable hydrogen ‘already cost competitive’, say researchers by Jocelyn Timperley, Carbon Brief, Feb 25, 2019
• Clouds May Hold the Key to Future Warming by Chelsea Harvey, E&E News/Scientific American, Feb 27, 2019
• What's in the Green New Deal? Four key issues to understand by Dana Nuccitelli, Yale Climate Connections, Feb 28, 2019
• Our kids need us to act fast on climate change by Heather McGhee, Grist, Feb 27, 2019

Fri Mar 1, 2019

• Ocean warming has caused ‘sustainable’ fish stocks to drop by 4% since 1930s by Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, Feb 28, 2019
• Annual emissions keep rising as gas jump counters power sector drop by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Hefrald, Feb 28. 2019
• Sea-Level Rise Is Already Taking a Toll on Annapolis by Marlene Cimons, Nexus Media, Feb 28, 2019
• The Green New Deal and the Strength of Ambiguity by Alan Neuhauser, US News & World Report, Mar 1, 2019
• Youth climate strikers: 'We are going to change the fate of humanity' by Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Mar 1, 2019
• New study finds young forests have a huge climate impact by Morgan Erickson-Davis, Mongabay, Feb 26, 2019
• With Climate Science on the March, an Isolated Trump Hunkers Down by Coral Davenport, New York Times, Feb 28, 2019
• Canada needs its own Green New Deal. Here's what it could look like, Opinion by Clayton Thomas-Müller, National Observer, Nov 29, 2018

Sat Mar 2, 2019

• Out on its own: Australia the only country to use climate funding to upgrade coal-fired plants by Adam Morton, Environment, Guardian, Feb 28, 2019
• Climate change 'cause of most under-reported humanitarian crises' by Arthur Neslen, Environment, Guardian, Feb 21, 2019
• Switzerland puts geoengineering governance on UN environment agenda by Sara Stefanini, Climate Homes News, Feb 26, 2019
• How the Weather Gets Weaponized in Climate Change Messaging by Brad Plumer, Climate, New York Times, Mar 1, 2019
• Fish stocks continuing to fall as oceans warm, study finds by Fiona Harvey, Environment, Guardian, Feb 28, 2019
• Greenhouse gases, explained by Christina Nunez, Environment, National Geographic, Mar 1, 2019
• Prices are not Enough by Frank Ackerman, Triple Crises, Feb 23, 2019
• New research, February 18-24, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki. Skeptical Science, Mar 1, 2019