Climate protesters around the world are demanding an end to fossil fuels amid a rise in extreme weather events

People attend the global climate strike of the Fridays for Future movement with other organizations as an alliance to demonstrate toughening climate protection law under the slogan “#EndFossilFuels” in Berlin, Germany, September 15, 2023. Annegret Hels/Reuters

Tens of thousands of climate activists demonstrated around the world on Friday and over the weekend to demand an end to the burning of fossil fuels that is warming the planet, as the world suffers from extreme weather events and record temperatures.

The strike – led by several local and global youth-led climate groups and organisations, including Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement – is taking place in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities around the world.

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At one strike in Quezon City, Philippines, activists lay down in front of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in protest, holding signs demanding the phase-out of fossil fuels — from coal to natural gas. Outside the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources office in Jakarta, Indonesia, protesters held signs demanding an end to dirty fuels and greenwashing in front of police officers.

In Sweden, climate activists gathered in front of Parliament, right next to the Royal Palace where King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden was celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of his accession to the throne. Their chants of “climate justice” could be heard in the palace courtyard as the king watched the changing of the guard during the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

A week before the planned protest, the United Nations warned that countries were far off track to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times, as agreed in Paris in 2015. The world to at least 1.1 degrees. (2°F) since then.

Over the past few months, the Earth has broken the average daily temperature record several times by one measure, with July being the hottest month on record and the Northern Hemisphere’s summer being declared the hottest on record.

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Dozens of extreme weather events – from Hurricane Idalia in the southeastern United States to torrential floods in Delhi in India – are believed to have been exacerbated by human-induced climate change.

Another major strike is scheduled for Sunday in New York, to coincide with Climate Week in the city and the UN climate summit.

Climate activists have organized similar global strikes in recent years, with protesters from different countries coming together on one day.

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People attend the global climate strike of the Fridays for Future movement with other organizations as an alliance to demonstrate toughening climate protection law under the slogan “#EndFossilFuels” in Berlin, Germany, September 15, 2023. Annegret Hels/Reuters