BERLIN -- Protesters in cities across the world staged rallies Friday demanding leaders take tougher action to address climate change.
More than 2,400 cities in 158 countries took part in demonstrations, according to the Fridays for Future network. Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion and other nongovernmental organizations also held protests.
While hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated around the world -- including an estimated 630,000 in Germany alone -- the rallies drew far fewer attendees than the "climate strikes" held in September. Organizers noted that it was exam season for many of the young people most likely to rally.
The rallies kicked off in Australia, where people affected by recent devastating wildfires joined young environmentalists protesting the government's pro-coal stance.
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Janet Reynolds said she had gone to the rally in Sydney after losing everything in an "inferno, an absolute firestorm that raced through my property."
"It's so unnatural that I started investigating, reading science and really exploring what's happening with climate change," she told Australian television.
Student Daisy Jeffrey said protesters attended to help raise money for those affected by the fires and to demand action from the government
"People have lost their homes, people have lost their lives," she said. "We have to ask: How far does this have to go before our government finally takes action?"
Teenage activist Greta Thunberg sent a message of support to protesters.
"Everyone's needed. Everyone's welcome. Join us," she said on Twitter.
Thunberg, who started her one-woman "climate strikes" in Sweden more than a year ago, is traveling across the Atlantic by sailboat to attend the latest global conference, which this year will take place in Madrid. She has drawn a following around the world and inspired thousands more students to regularly skip school on Fridays and join climate protests -- hence the name Fridays for Future.
In an online opinion piece published Friday, Thunberg and Luisa Neubauer, who has been at the forefront of the German climate movement, urged decisive action ahead of the two-week climate conference, which begins Monday.
The duo argued on Project Syndicate that "striking is not a choice we relish; we do it because we see no other options."
The protests also come after lawmakers in the European Parliament voted Thursday to declare a "climate and environmental emergency" in Europe.
The symbolic move urges the European Union's executive branch to align its activities to limit global warming to under 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels, the more ambitious of two targets set out in the 2015 Paris climate accord. The lesser target was limiting warming to below 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
The German chapter of Fridays for Future likened the EU parliament's actions to a fire brigade screaming, "There's a fire," and taking no further action.
In Berlin, about two dozen environmental activists jumped into the chilly waters of the Spree River in front of parliament to protest a government-backed package of measures that they say won't be enough to reduce the country's greenhouse-gas emissions. The package was blocked Friday by Germany's upper house, which represents the country's 16 states.
Later, tens of thousands of students rallied in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
"The generations before us messed it up," said Robin Ebelt, 17. "And we're the ones that will feel the consequences. I would like to spend another 60 years on this planet, grow old and have grandchildren."
Further rallies took place in countries including Hungary, Belgium, South Korea, Poland, England, Turkey and Spain.
BLACK FRIDAY A TARGET
In Italy, France and South Africa, environmental protesters also targeted Black Friday with a protest they dubbed #BlockFriday.
"Big brands are offering discounts on consumer items to encourage us to buy things we would normally not buy. We need to change this unsustainable model," Fridays for Future Italia said in a statement.
According to organizers, more than 300,000 people took part in Italy's demonstrations, including 30,000 in Rome, 25,000 in Milan and 10,000 each in Turin and Naples.
In France, the protesters blockaded Amazon warehouses in Lyon and Saint-Priest.
In South Africa, a few dozen people with signs saying "Not Cool" and "Stop Pollution Now" protested outside the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the summer heat of the Southern Hemisphere. One protester lay on the ground faking death, holding a sign saying "Black Friday Reason to Grieve."
Africa is considered the least prepared to deal with global warming. Temperatures in parts of the continent are projected to rise more quickly than the global average.
Officials on the continent have raised the alarm over unusually severe rainfall in East Africa and a pair of cyclones that ripped into Mozambique within weeks of each other earlier this year.
Scores of young Nigerians marched in downtown Lagos displaying messages such as "There is no planet B" and "Stop Denying the Earth is Dying" as passing vehicles slowed and honked in support.
"Mother Nature is lamenting and we are grieved," declared one of the Lagos marchers, Omobolanle Eko. "The rise in temperature is real. The rise in sea level is real."
Student Folashade Gbadeola listed several possible solutions, some of them challenging, in Nigeria, where the economy is still deeply dependent on oil production.
"We should stop the use of fossil fuel," Gbadeola said.
And in a city of some 20 million people and epic traffic jams, the student suggested that people live near their places of work, ride bikes and share car rides.
The megacity is Africa's most populous and is among its coastal cities threatened by rising sea levels.
In Cameroon, just southeast of Nigeria, about 450 people protested against deforestation. They marched to the prime minister's office in Yaounde to protect the rain forest and its indigenous people, and to "raise awareness among Cameroonians that climate change is real," said Andoh Rex of Greenpeace Africa.
Information for this article was contributed by Frank Jordans, Lekan Oyekanmi and Rob Celliers of The Associated Press; and by staff members of Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
A Section on 11/30/2019