This year’s day of action will take place on 25 September
Young people in Scotland will take part in a global day of action later this month to demand more action on the climate crisis.
School strikes will be held on Friday 25 September, with pupils calling for a comprehensive green infrastructure plan and a ban on public funds being used for fossil fuel development.
Socially-distanced protests will be held outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh and at schools in Fort William and Lochaber as part of the action, organised by Scottish Youth Climate Strike (SYCS).
In cities where increased coronavirus restrictions are in place such as Glasgow and Aberdeen, supporters are encouraged to take part in online action to raise awareness for the cause.
SYCS is asking everyone taking part in a physical protest to wear a mask, stay 2m apart from other protestors, and use the Scottish contact tracing app. The organisers say they are prepared to cancel the strikes should the risk of transmission become too high.
SYCS spokesman Dylan Hamilton, 16, said: “We have around eight years left of our global carbon budget, to stay below a 1.5°C increase in global temperature from pre-industrial levels. That is completely unacceptable and a failure from governments all around the world.
“We need drastic action and we cannot wait and focus on our education while watching the world burn around us.”
Campaigner Holly Gillibrand, 15, added: “The Covid-19 crisis can’t be separated from the climate crisis as health crises are made far worse as a result of climate change. Smoke from increasingly bad wildfires is harming people’s lungs making them more susceptible to illness, particularly respiratory ones like coronavirus.
“75% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, which means they are passed from animals to humans. As long as we continue encroaching into natural habitats, we will keep exposing ourselves to diseases like coronavirus. The climate and ecological crisis is a health crisis.”
