New Scientist - 21.09.2019

21 September 2019 | New Scientist | 21

I

T IS just over a year since
Swedish teenager Greta
Thunberg, frustrated by
political inaction on climate
change and following Sweden’s
hottest summer in more than
250 years, skipped school and sat
in front of the Swedish parliament
with a handwritten “Skolstrejk för
klimatet” (School strike for the
climate) sign.
Before long, teenagers in other
countries were following her lead,
building momentum towards the
global Fridays for Future school
strike movement. They have
brought a new energy, bluntness
and charisma to the climate
debate – and shown spectacular
JOSIE FORDskill at embarrassing politicians.

Comment

Views

The columnist

Annalee Newitz on

tech firms’ union

confusion p22

Letters

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approaches to saving

the Arctic Ocean p26

Aperture

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tussle for territory

in Japan p28

Culture

Inside the anti-

science world of

The Testaments p30

Culture columnist

Roguelike games

can’t be truly random,

says Jacob Aron p32

On 20 September, they are

asking adults all over the world

to join them in showing up on

the streets. Whether you are an

employee, employer or neither,

it’s worth asking what you can

do to answer that call.

If nothing else, this is a

chance to show a positive spirit

of intergenerational cooperation

on an issue that could be very

generationally divisive – and in a

world increasingly scarred by such

conflict. Climate change is an issue

for us all. We should send a clear

signal that we know delegating it

to the young to sort out will leave

it too late.

Australia shows how support

can be mobilised. It was one of the

first places outside Sweden to

spark a youth strike. By dint of

their nation’s location on the

globe, Australians will be some

of the first to strike. There, the

Not Business As Usual coalition

of  employers has pledged to

support the strike, whether by

closing company doors, having

a meeting-free day, allowing a

longer lunch break to attend

protests or just making it clear

that teams won’t be penalised

for taking a few hours off.

In the UK, the Trades Union

Congress has voted to support

30 minutes of solidarity action

on the day. As the strike begins

across the Atlantic, more than

1000 employees at Amazon will

also walk out, part of the long-

standing Amazon Employees

for Climate Justice campaign.

If you can’t leave work, there

are still plenty of ways to aid the

strikers. You could donate some of

your wages to a climate campaign

or write to schools, local papers

and political representatives in

support of the protests.

Above all, the young strikers

want to see more people taking

increasingly ambitious climate

action. The most helpful thing any

of us can do is look around, decide

what needs to change and resolve

to make that change happen.

That can’t end with a 30-minute

microstrike on 20 September.

Climate change isn’t something

we simply win or lose, then the

game ends. As climate scientist

Kate Marvel puts it, it’s more of

a slope we slide down.

The sort of climate nihilism

that the novelist Jonathan Franzen

was pilloried for after his article in

The New Yorker^ last week – that

we’re doomed, so there’s no point

doing anything – is the last thing

we need right now. As we cross

the threshold of 1°C of global

warming, it’s still not too late.

Concerted, sustained action on

behalf of all those who care about

the future of the planet is what

is needed. 20 September is the

perfect time to show that’s where

you stand, too. ❚

Climate strikes grow up

The school strike for the climate movement is looking for adult

suppor t on 20 September. We should give it, argues Alice Bell

Alice Bell is co-director

of climate charity 10:10.

Follow her on Twitter

@alicebell