During the last Friday of September hundreds of thousands of people all over the world went out to the streets to fight against climate change and to claim for new policies that can help reverse the critical current situation of our planet.
Fridays for Future, that is the name of the movement that has taken the world by storm and all the front pages of magazines, newspapers and social media feeds lately. This activist group which fights against climate change and aims to create awareness of the devastating situation that planet earth faces right now was created by a 16 year old sweden girl by the name of Greta Thunberg.
Greta who was then 15 years old, decided to stop going to school and started to go in front of the Swedish Parliament every day in order to gain attention and raise the voice about environmental activism. After three weeks she decided to go every Friday and soon she became viral on the internet, which led to the creation of the movement Fridays for Future.
This movement is now international and Argentina counts with their own student leaders whom were present at the 27th of September Global March and could be seen talking to media while explaining their role in this campaign.
Amongst the facts that the movement claim and want to raise awareness of are: that humanity is facing an existential crisis due to climate change, that the current generation of adults is responsible for climate change,that climate change will have a disproportionate effect on young people, and that too little is being done about the situation. Therefore Greta Thunberg expresses that there needs to be a loud activism through actions that can make politicians and scientists, the decision makers on this issue, notice what is happening to then be able to create actual change.
It seems that she has been successful and has created what many journalists call the “Greta Effect,” meaning the impact that her image has created in people all over the world, specially young students. Which was absolutely visible during the march in Buenos Aires. Not only high school and university students could be seen screaming environmental hymns and showing signs with messages related to climate change, but also it could be observed many parents supporting the kids and even some of them carrying their babies so they can start educating them on the topic from the beginning of their lives.
After walking for a couple hours we finally reached congreso. It was a beautiful spring afternoon and the scenery was filled with colorful flags, people holding hands, singing and believing that if we work together towards the same goal we can create positive change. The day was concluded with a variety of speeches filled with hope, led by teachers, students and citizens that have simply decided to raise their voice so they can be heard in every little corner of the world.
