Thousands of young people have organized a global climate strike in Asia, Africa and Europe in a bid to get compensation for those worst affected by climate breakdown.
From New Zealand and Japan to Germany and the Democratic Republic of Congo, activists walked out of schools, universities and jobs to demand rich countries pay for the damage global warming is inflicting on the poor.
There were 450 locations planned for strikes for climate reparations and justice in the latest day of action by the Fridays For Future movement.
The protests take place six weeks before Cop 27 climate summit, where developing countries plan to push for compensation for climate-related destruction to homes, infrastructure and livelihoods.
Recent months have seen deadly floods engulfing large parts of Pakistan, wildfires ravaging north Africa, Europe and North America, and record-breaking heatwaves in Britain and India.
"We are striking all over the world because the governments in charge are still doing too little for climate justice," said Darya Sotoodeh, a spokesman for the group's chapter in Germany.
One day, it could be my house that gets flooded, said 15-year-old Park Chae-yun, one of about 200 protesters in Seoul, South Korea. I'm living with a sense of crisis, so I think it is more important to give my concerns to the government to take preventive measures rather than go to school. The biggest strike took place in Berlin, with police in the German capital estimating 20,000 taking part in a rally calling for their government to set up a €100 billion fund for tackling the climate crisis.
About 400 young activists gathered in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa chanting Act for Africa and protect our planet They marched on the shoulder of a busy thoroughfare carrying cardboard signs saying Climate Justice and Climate SOS In Rome, 5,000 young people turned out for a march that ended near the Colosseum. One carried a placard saying: The climate is changing. Denmark is the only rich country that has so far stepped up with funding for the problem of loss and damage due to climate-related disasters, and announced at the UN assembly this week that it would provide DKK 100 m 12 m to address it.
Colonisers and capitalists are at the core of every system of oppression that has caused the climate crisis, and decolonisation is the best kind of climate action, according to a statement on Fridays For Future. The Fridays For Future youth movement began in 2018, inspired by Greta Thunberg's solitary protests outside the Swedish parliament. In November 2019, 4 million people took part in 4,500 actions on one Friday, reaching a new all time high in November 2019.