Around 70 people attended a Global Climate Strike event at Confederation Square in downtown Peterborough on Friday afternoon (March 25) to demand governments take action against climate change.
Local photographer Sean Bruce provided kawarthaNOW with photos and a video of the event, which was led by the Youth Climate Action Club of Peterborough-Nogojiwanong.
The group, which was formed last fall by four local elementary school students passionate about raising awareness about climate change, has since expanded to include over a dozen climate activists from nine to 14 years of age.
Friday’s event was part of Fridays for Futures, an international youth-led and organized grassroots global climate strike movement that started in August 2018, when a 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate.
Several members of the Youth Climate Action Club spoke during the event at Confederation Square, demanding climate action from the federal, provincial, and municipal governments.
Their demands include halting new fossil fuel projects or pipelines, transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, making a commitment to affordable and accessible green energy, ensuring clean water in all First Nations communities, providing free public transit, and preserving greenspace.
VIDEO: Global Climate Strike in Peterborough, Ontario (March 25, 2022)
Some of the messages displayed on participants’ protest signs included “Our house is on fire”, “There is no Planet B”, “You’ll die of old age, we’ll die of climate change”, “System change not climate change”, “We love the Earth”, and “The oceans are rising and so are we”.
For more information on the Youth Climate Action Club, visit them on Facebook and Instagram.
Here are some more photos by Sean Bruce of Friday’s event.
