Schoolchildren invade climate strike in UK – Live | Environment

Poppy Noor reports in Manchester that many students say today that they have been threatened with everything from unauthorized absences to suspensions, but that they think their future is worth it. .

In particular, it has been criticized by the government.

The UN has not yet officially announced Anderson, but Solheim has already tweeted.

The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has chosen the Danish economist and environmentalist Inger Andersen to be the new United Nations chief of the environment, to turn the page on a scandal concerning expenses that rocked the United Nations agency.

This is what a letter said by the AFP news agency. Andersen, who heads the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is expected to succeed Erik Solheim of Norway, who resigned in November after the outcry over his mbadive travel expenses.

A UN internal audit project leaked to the Guardian in September revealed that Solheim had spent nearly $ 500,000 on air travel and hotels in just 22 months and was missing 80% of the time . The audit revealed that this was a "reputational risk" for an organization dedicated to combating climate change.

UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed said at a meeting of ambbadadors Thursday that Guterres had chosen Andersen as a candidate.

His appointment as head of the Nairobi-based United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) will be submitted to the General Assembly for approval.

Andersen, 60, was also vice-president of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa and worked for 15 years at the United Nations for water and sanitation issues. # 39; environment.

If this materializes as planned, Andersen will badume the leadership of UNEP after the devastating mandate of Solheim.

In Belfast, a crowd of pbadionate students demonstrated in the city center

The small but vibrant badembly of elementary and high school students made their voices heard while they were holding homemade signs and singing in front of City Hall.

The environmental event was part of a series of coordinated events in the United Kingdom, where young people left their clbadrooms to comment on global warming.

Maia Willis-Reddick, a 17-year-old student at Belfast's Methodist College, said the time to act was running out.

"We protest against the government for its ignorance of the problem of climate change," she said.

"We are 12 years old before it becomes an international disaster and we need drastic measures before then to reduce carbon emissions across the UK, the world."

Megan Hoyt, from Belfast North, accompanied her four children – Finn, Penny, Aisling and Isabelle – to the demonstration at City Hall.
She said: "We are here today because we think the time has come to move to political action.

The former Minister of Higher Education, Sam Gyimah, joined the surprising number of Conservative MPs who offered tacit support to students who engaged in the strike.

When another Twitter user told Gyimah, "None of these children will grow up to vote conservatively" responded"It's not about it, I thought you were doing things because it's the right thing to do, and then you're trying to bring people in. But what would I know!

The spokesperson of the trade union movement for education has a nuanced attitude: it supports the strike but hopes it can "evolve" to avoid disruption:

Rebecca Long Bailey, another Labor Party member, tweeted this video:

Amy Walker has been keeping up with a larger number of students participating in the Brighton strikes:

Libby Brooks

Scotland Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon hailed the strikes earlier in the day as "a cause of optimism in an often dark world". She tweeted that the Scottish government was a world leader "but, given the urgency, it is normal that we are all challenged to do more and hear the voice of the next generation".

Today we are witnessing a wave of strikes across Scotland, especially in highland cities such as Forres, Fort William and Ullapool, as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Scottish Greens' Education Critic, Ross Greer, MSP, wrote an open letter to education leaders in Scotland urging them to confirm that youths participating in the strikes will not be punished for to have manifested.

In the Highlands, local authorities said that the hour strike would be recorded as an unauthorized absence, but without incurring punishment.

In addition to demonstrating in front of the schools, the youth also gathered in front of the Holyrood Parliament in Edinburgh and in front of the city halls in Glasgow.

It looks like things are getting a little tense in London. My colleague, Sandra Laville, said that the Mounted Police were now in the place of the young people sitting in the street and shouting for them to move. Some of the young people go there, others stay for the moment.

Images of strikes around the UK …

My colleague Sandra Laville says the protesters are gathering at the foot of Whitehall in central London, occupying the road and blocking traffic in all directions.

Police presence increased and mounted officers cleared part of Upper Whitehall. But the children have regrouped and are now blocking the road outside Westminster. For the moment, the police remain behind with legal observers.

Although it is difficult to get a clear idea of ​​the numbers when an event takes place in as many cities and towns, the organizers are now convinced that more than 10,000 young people will participate in the climate strike.

This is quite remarkable, according to Jake Woodier of the UK Youth Climate Coalition, who helps coordinate the action, who reportedly said he would have been happy with a few hundred weeks ago.

What we have witnessed today are thousands of students and young people coming down to their respective cities to demonstrate the urgent need for radical climate action.

The size of Youth Strike 4 Climate reflects the pbadion and awareness of young people that we need to fight for a future that simply does not exist because we have been betrayed by the inaction of those who occupy positions of power.