School children strike over 'lack of climate change action'
More than 50 planned protests are set to take place across the UK, with walkouts being staged all over the world.
Friday 15 February 2019 09:31, UK
School children across the country have swapped the classroom for the picket line today, as they strike over the government's perceived lack of action on climate change.
Eco-conscious youngsters are taking part in more than 50 planned Youth Strike 4 Climate protests in the UK.
It is unclear how many British students will be involved in the walkout, but up to 70,000 are thought to be striking across the world.
The group Youth Strike 4 Climate has posted on its Facebook page: "The world is finally waking up.
"Millions of young people are realising it's now or never and are looking to take direct action on the climate action."
The group is inviting students in the capital to "come down to Parliament Square" and "tell the government you're prepared to break the rules to tackle climate change".
Protests have also been organised in at least 53 locations across the UK, including Bristol, Manchester, Southampton, Bournemouth and Norwich.
School children are expected to be taking part in strikes in 270 towns and cities worldwide.
Zoe Bonnett, 14, will be striking in Bristol and has written a letter to her headteacher explaining why.
She wrote: "As you may know, this Friday, hundreds of young people will take to the streets to display their passion for addressing the climate crisis and to demand change.
"I will be one of them, and have been coordinating the strike in Bristol.
"I strongly believe that far from enough is being done to combat the emergency that we are facing, and system change is needed.
"The climate crisis should be top of everyone's agenda, especially the government's, because it is the biggest threat that the human race faces today."
The students are following in the footsteps of Greta Thunberg, a Swedish schoolgirl who held a month-long protest over the issue outside of her country's parliament.
But school leaders and Education Secretary Damian Hinds have warned students they should not miss lessons to take part in the strikes.
Mr Hinds said: "I want young people to be engaged in key issues affecting them and involving themselves in causes they care about.
"But let me be clear, missing class won't do a thing to help the environment; all they will do is create extra work for teachers."
He said the government was taking "lots of action to combat climate change, £2.5bn is being invested through the Industrial Strategy to support low carbon innovation in the UK".