December 14, 2018

Polish School Children Join Call For Global Climate Strike at UN Climate Talks in Katowice

Katowice, Poland – Today- 30 school children from three local schools in Katowice, answered the call of Greta Thunberg and brought the global #ClimateStrike into the final day of the UN Climate talks in Katowice.

The 30 students were granted special access to enter the UN talks and carry their message to the delegates and Polish government: with only 12 years left to get the world off fossil fuels, leaders must act now.  

Małgorzata Czachowska (15 years) a student striking in Katowice said:

“For two weeks, Greta has been alone pushing leaders to deliver a climate deal. Today we answer her call and bring the call of young people everywhere to our leaders. The time for talk is over, the time for action is now.”  

Greta Thunberg a 15-year-old Swedish school student went on “strike for climate” from her school in September 2018. She has called for other school students to join her every Friday. This week she issued a call highlighting the lack of action (and “maturity”) at the UN Climate Conference in Katowice (COP24).

Students across the world have responded with:

    • 16 schools in Poland
    • Including 3 in Katowice
    • 14 cities in Germany striking today – with over a thousand students including 400 in the city of Kiel alone.

Greta’s call for action on social media has already received over 200,000 views and youth across the world are answering the call.

Thunberg insisted on the hope that is “everywhere” when people take action.

Linus Steinmetz, a 15-year-old pupil from Göttingen in Germany said they are joining the strike because:  

“We, young people in particular, must now stand up for climate justice. Because the future of our generation is in jeopardy. At the same time, we are the last generation who is still able to prevent the worst of catastrophic climate change. Now is the time to go out on the streets because the climate is not waiting until we graduate. “

 

Notes for editors:

  • Photos of the student strike at the UN are available here (credit David Tong / WWF New Zealand)
  • A full copy of Greta’s remarks to the UN Climate Summit are available here.
  • Information (in German) about the German school strikes are here.

You will be able to follow live updates from the student rallies via:

For more information: NOTE that 350.Org and Avaaz are NOT organising these actions but are helping the students to spread their message.

Alex Rafalowicz, [email protected], whatsapp: +57 318 343 9284

Iain Keith, Avaaz, [email protected] +16463180385

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