Montreal (dpa) - Climate activist Greta Thunberg has demonstrated in the Canadian city of Montreal at the end of an international strike week together with about half a million people for more climate protection.
At the same time, she accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a meeting on Friday that she was not adequately fighting climate change. According to Canadian media reports, Trudeau said, "Of course, it's easier to blame someone, and of course he has a lot of responsibility and certainly he does not do enough." She told all politicians worldwide. "My message to all politicians is the same - just listen to science and act accordingly."
In the afternoon, Trudeau and Thunberg participated in a climate protest in Montreal. "We did that together and I can not thank you enough for being here," Thunberg said in a speech to the demonstrators. "It's just unbelievable to be united for such a common cause." Both her native Sweden and Canada are "alleged climate change leaders," Thunberg said. "In both cases that means absolutely nothing. In both cases, these are just empty words. »
Trudeau announced that it would plant two billion new trees in Canada in the event of an October victory. Climate activist Thunberg called him "an impressive person who brings the conversation forward" and "the voice of a generation of young people calling on their leaders to do more and make it better - and I hear" ,
Hundreds of thousands took to the streets not only in Canada but also in other countries. In Italy it should have been more than a million. By contrast, the protests in Germany this time were more subdued than a week ago. According to the police, 3,200 participants took part in the rally in Hamburg. According to police, around 2000 people took part in a demo train through the city center in Munich.
At the start of the day, tens of thousands of people gathered in New Zealand outside Parliament in the capital, Wellington. There were also protests in South Korea, India and Bangladesh. According to the APA news agency, a total of 65,000 people demonstrated in Austria, and the organizers even spoke of 150,000 participants. In The Hague, Netherlands, some 35,000 people attended a rally, organizers estimated. In Stockholm, the home of Swedish climate activist Thunberg, according to the organizers, 60,000 people came together for a protest march. Also in other parts of Scandinavia was protested.
The climate protests had started in Stockholm in August 2018: at the age of fifteen, Greta Thunberg had come to the Swedish parliament with a protest sign saying "School strike for the climate" in order to call for more climate protection. From this developed the international climate movement Fridays for Future. The protests of mostly young participants have long been joined by many adults. The movement demands more ambition from politicians in the fight against global warming and the impending climate catastrophe. Above all, according to the Paris Climate Agreement, global warming must be reduced to below 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times.
Thunberg itself traveled to the United States on the occasion of various climate summits via ocean-going sailing yacht just over a month ago. There she held a moving speech at the UN on Monday, in which she spoke urgently to the heads of state and government of the earth and reproached them for failing to fight the climate crisis. In her native Stockholm on Wednesday she was awarded the Alternative Nobel Prize of the Right Livelihood Foundation for her commitment to more climate protection.
Twitter account Greta Thunberg
