Fridays for Future rallies rock cities across world

‘We can still turn this around... We demand change and we are the change,’ Thunberg tells cheering protesters in Berlin; demonstrations were held in 1,500 locations from Africa to America.

Young climate activists from Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement resumed mass street protests on Friday for the first time since the pandemic began, demanding drastic action from global leaders ahead of UN climate talks in November.

From Nairobi to Washington, marchers - including Thunberg, who joined protests in Berlin — carried placards and homemade banners during the demonstrations, which drew fewer protesters than before COVID-19 in most cities.

Thunberg, 18, addressed the Berlin rally from a stage, telling the crowd that voting is important but must be coupled with protests that put politicians under constant pressure.

“We can still turn this around,” she said to cheers. “We demand change, and we are the change.”

“It’s slightly disappointing there are less people than there used to be - but people will come back. The problem is not going away,” said Erin Brodrick, 17, one of about 250 protesters in London’s Parliament Square.

Before the pandemic, the square often overflowed with activists during larger Friday marches.

Brodrick said young people “feel really scared about the future of the planet” as they see climate change impacts strengthen and emissions continue to rise, despite a rat of political promises to slash them.