NEWS RELEASE
GREEN ORILLIA
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Fridays for Future, the youth-led climate movement, began in August 2018 when Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager, started skipping school every Friday to sit outside the Swedish parliament in Stockholm with a sign that read, “School Strike for Climate.”
She did this to protest the lack of action on climate change and demand stronger climate policies from her government. Greta Thunberg’s solo protest quickly gained attention and inspired other young people around the world to join her in similar strikes and demonstrations. The movement gained momentum and came to be known as Fridays for Future. Young activists across the globe began organizing school strikes and climate protests on Fridays, emulating Greta’s example. Since its inception, Fridays for Future has grown into a global movement with participants from many countries, and has risen to one of the largest youth movements in history.
The era of fossil fuels has had a devastating impact on our world, including recent record-breaking heat, deadly floods, wildfires and other extreme weather events. According to Environment Canada, Canada’s climate is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. Research groups have rated Canada’s climate target and policies as “highly insufficient” and inconsistent with the Paris Agreement.
Tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 15, Orillia joins the Global March to End Fossil Fuels, with climate marches in over 400 cities across the world, and over 50 cities in Canada. Our action is entirely youth led, and has been organized by a committee of over 15 young people in our community, including Green Orillia and the Sustainable Orillia Youth Council.
We will meet at the Orillia Public Library courtyard at 4 p.m. We will be calling on all levels of government to quickly and equitably phase out fossil fuels, connect with the community, and discuss actions for next steps. Bring a sign or we will have extras to share. We hope you will join us in building a fossil fuel-free future.
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