Global Warming Countermeasures Youth-centered Demonstration in over 150 countries around the world | NHK News

Global Warming Countermeasures Youth-centered Demonstration September 21 20:26 in over 150 countries around the world

A demo that appeals to global warming countermeasures was held mainly by high school students and young people in front of the United Nations Global Warming Prevention Summit. According to the organizer, more than 4 million people participate in more than 150 countries around the world. It was the largest demonstration ever to seek countermeasures against computerization.

This demonstration was held all over the world on the 20th, triggered by the activity of a 16-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, who has been absent from school every Friday and has continued to appeal against global warming. .

In New York, USA, where the United Nations Global Warming Prevention Summit is held, high school students in the city conducted a large-scale demonstration, and about 250,000 people participated in the announcement of the sponsored organization.

Participants were mainly younger generations such as junior high school students and high school students, and marched for about 2 km while putting on a signboard with a message requesting countermeasures against global warming and saying “Countermeasures against global warming now”. .

The 9-year-old boy who participated said, "If we don't do anything, we don't have a future. Politicians want to take action against global warming soon."

Greta, who is visiting the United States to participate in the summit, also participated, “If you do not act by looking at the crisis, the world will not change. "Let's appeal."

According to the organizer, the demonstration has been held in more than 150 countries around the world, including more than 4 million participants, and it has become the largest demonstration for global warming countermeasures.

Leaders from more than 60 countries are expected to attend the global warming countermeasures summit on the 23rd of this month, but the question is what results will be able to answer the needs of young people.

New York demo High school students plan

Demonstrations for global warming countermeasures conducted around the world were mainly led by younger generations such as junior high school students and high school students.

The demonstration of New York, USA, began in June after Greta was announced to participate in the United Nations Global Warming Summit, led by high school students in the city. One of them, Calvin Yang, got acquainted with Greta's appeal last year, and started an activity to complain about prevention of global warming with friends who were inspired by Greta.

“I thought teenagers didn't have that power, but Greta showed me that even 16 years old can have such a big impact.”

Mr. Yang negotiated with his school and New York City education authorities to allow a large number of students to attend the 20-day demonstration, and granted permission to attend the demonstration. . In addition, we created a theme song and spread information on social media to raise the interest of young people of the same age.

And on the 20th day. There were so many young people at the start of the march that they could not move.

“If you don't act by looking at the crisis, the world will change. Let's reach out to the summit leaders and ask them to act.”
"The world should know that young people are seeking action and change."

Closed school and participated in demonstration Permitted by City Education Bureau

This time, the New York City Department of Education has taken the extraordinary response to allow more than one million public school students and students to take a school break and take part in a demonstration against global warming.

In addition, more than 2000 scientists across the United States submit a “doctor's certificate” when they are absent from school so that students who want to participate in protests can show the reasons for absence even in schools where permission is not granted. Instead of deciding to issue a “doctor's note” = “Doctor's Note” instead of supporting the movement, the society has continued to support young people's actions to rise against global warming.

Associate professor Kassandra Teal of New York University who participated in the "Doctor's Medical Certificate" movement said, "This is a special case where students are absent due to a sick earth," and should respect the behavior of the younger generation I was talking.

IT companies and other cooperating statements Strikes with employee solidarity

In response to the voices of high school students seeking global warming countermeasures, support activities expanded among adults.

About 1,000 people at the headquarters of Amazon, an IT giant in Seattle, USA, went on a strike seeking global warming countermeasures.

Thousands of people from major IT companies such as Facebook, Google, and Microsoft have performed a strike to show solidarity throughout the United States.

In front of these activities, Amazon introduced a renewable energy such as wind power and solar power as well as 100,000 electric cars as a company on the 19th, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 to zero. Announces plans to make

In response to calls from young people hosting demonstrations, about 6000 companies including IT companies announced that they would cooperate on global warming prevention on the Internet site.

In addition, more than 130 companies, such as sports equipment manufacturers Patagonia and Burton, have closed their stores and allowed employees to participate in demonstrations. It also spread between.

62% of the US Trump administration is “warming”

Experts point out that even in the United States of the Trump administration, which is reluctant to combat global warming, there is a change in public awareness.

According to the latest results of the global warming awareness survey conducted twice a year by Yale University in the United States, 62% answered that they were “very worried” or “worried” about warming.

This is an increase of 13 points compared to 9 years ago, suggesting that people are more concerned about global warming.

In addition, 69% of respondents replied that global warming was “actually occurring”, 12 points compared to 9 years ago, and 55% of respondents replied that warming was caused by human activity. Each increased by 9 points.

In the United States, hurricanes have been damaged in the past few years, and the number of deaths in the hurricane “Maria” who attacked Puerto Rico has risen to about 3,000. Last year, eight hurricanes occurred, Caused damages of over 500 billion yen.

In California, there were a series of large-scale forest fires, and about 100 people died last year alone, and singer Miley Cyrus and Neil Young's house were burned.

Research results have been reported that the cause of such serious natural disasters is the rise in sea surface temperature due to global warming and the drying of forests.

Dr. Anthony Riezewitz, Yale University, who is conducting the survey, said, “The reason for the change is that more and more media have seen the damage caused by severe natural disasters that hit the US mainland recently. Among the Republican supporters who have been generally reluctant to fight against global warming, the younger generation is divided with the older generation, and politicians are demanding countermeasures against global warming. Analyzing.