That Greta Thunberg consoles herself, her action is not in vain. The Swedish activist who shed tears of anger during a virulent plea on Monday, September 23, at the UN platform, can still rejoice to see that his example has inspired many other children in the world . Greta Thunberg has created vocations in Uganda, Thailand, the United States, Switzerland and Poland. Presentation.

>> To read: Greta Thunberg at the UN: "You stole my dreams and my childhood!"

Leah Namugerwa, Uganda

Ugandan Greta Thunberg is named Leah Namugerwa. Originally from Mukono District, she first saw helpless and desolate deforestation in her area as Kampala, the Ugandan capital, expanded. Then inspired by the Swedish initiator of the Fridays For Future movement, she, at the age of 14, launched a fight for the planet. From then on, it organizes its first demonstration for the environment on a Friday in February, in a suburb of Kampala. "People have criticized me, they say that at my age, Friday, I should be in class and not on the streets to strike," says the teenager, "It's a good thing my parents told me supported and encouraged ". Leah's father, at the head of a building materials sales company, regularly accompanies him by car for his weekly work.

Leah Namugerwa, 15, waving a climate sign in the streets of Kampala, 4 September 2019. Sumy Sadurni, AFP

For her fifteenth birthday, the young activist offered herself an unusual gift: she decided to plant 200 trees, to warn about the damage to the environment in her country.

Sharing her time between school, demonstrations and speeches she gives in the big cities, she is now known throughout the country. And his mobilization has already paid off: Leah is behind a campaign to urge the city of Kampala to ban the use of plastic bags.

International Climate Week forces Leah to take part this week in world events on the theme of the climate emergency. "Our future is not guaranteed, the present leaders will no longer be there, but we will be, and we will suffer the consequences of their inaction, we must speak now, not tomorrow."

Ralyn Satidtanasarn, the Thai warrior

By her own admission, Ralyn Satidtanasarn is a warrior. But let it be reassured, the only 12-year-old girl, nicknamed Lilly, takes only plastic, a plague in Thailand. It must be said that Southeast Asia is the world's sixth largest contributor to ocean pollution. Plastic bags are ubiquitous for packing the hundreds of thousands of meals served daily in street canteens. Every Thai uses an average of eight per day, nearly 3,000 per year. Twelve times more than a European.

Inspired by Greta Thunberg, the young schoolgirl also dries the lessons every Friday, not to protest but to pick up plastic detritus. His vocation was born on vacation, contemplating the extent of waste left on the beach. "At first I was too young to argue," she says, "but Greta has given me confidence, and when adults do not do anything, it's up to us, the kids, to act."

By dint of pugnacity, the young activist managed to convince a Thai chain of supermarkets not to give plastic bags for single use to its customers. Other mass market groups announced that they would follow suit.

The American Alexandria Villasenor

In the country of Donald Trump too, we are mobilized very young. Alexandria Villasenor, 14, was very early on sensitized to the environmental cause by her mother who works on the climate. But it was on seeing Greta Thunberg in the media that the young American woman embarked on strikes in New York. For many weeks, the schoolgirl went on strike alone on a bench in the Big Apple. Then other students gradually joined the ranks of the demonstrators.

American activist Alexandria Villaseñor, speaking on a stage, July 25, 2019, in New York. Noam Galai, AFP

Alexandria Villasenor delivers her battle for the climate in a well-oiled orchestration. A media officer organizes the many requests for interviews and the parents also take care of the speech of their offspring. The American recipe works: today they are hundreds to skip school every Friday to save the planet.

Followers in Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium ...

The European continent is not left out. In Germany, Luisa Neubauer, 22, a student of geography in Göttingen, is the initiator of thousands of young people. If the activist refuses to be presented as "the German Greta Thunberg", she remains the figurehead of the Fridays For Future movement.

It is after having exchanged with the Swedish activist during the climate conference in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018, that her engagement took a media tour. At the end of her meeting with Greta, the German student decides to launch Fridays of demonstration in Germany. It's a great success. On January 25, more than 5,000 young people gather in Berlin. At the same time, the Ministry of Economy decides to get the coal out of the energy mix of the country. A first victory for the young student.

Luisa Neubauer, 22, wearing a gray cap, alongside Greta Thunberg, on March 29, in Berlin. Tobias Schwarz, AFP

On 1 March, Luisa Neubauer is again noticed by marching alongside Greta Thunberg during a march in Hamburg. The image of the two young militants at the head of the procession caught the German Chancellor's attention. In her weekly video podcast, Angela Merkel congratulates young people "for their commitment to the climate". The German activist marked the spirits.

In Poland, it is the name of Inga Zasowska that resonates when one speaks about the environmentalist cause led by teenagers. At only 13 years old, the Polish activist was famous in her country demonstrating every Friday of July in front of the Parliament in Warsaw. Brandishing a sign "The vacation strike for the climate", the college got the support of opposition parliamentarians. No reaction on the other hand from the party in power, Law and Justice.

The young Inga Zasowska, in front of the Polish parliament, on June 28, in Warsaw. Janek Skarzynski, AFP

What about France?

And the list of young activists does not stop there. The Swiss are gathered behind Marie-Claire Graf, 23 years old. In Belgium, 17-year-old Youna Marette and Anuna De Wever and Adelaide Charlier are making young people move. And in France, mention the name of the 16-year-old Bordelaise Iris Duquesne, present at the summit of New York alongside Greta Thunberg, or that of Côme Girschig, 24, designated as representative of France at the summit of the youth for the climate.

Young Bordeaux activist Iris Duquesne, 16, in New York for the UN climate summit, 23 September 2019. Kena Betancur, AFP

No wonder so many young people are mobilizing for the climate, one assures the side of the environmental organizations. "In just a few months, global warming and pollution have become a real concern for young people," says Anaïs Darenes, project communication and advocacy officer at Refedd (French Student Network for Sustainable Development), in an interview with France 24. They are more and more anxious about it. "