The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march in piazza Damiano Chiesa © Lifegate

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The march in piazza Damiano Chiesa © Lifegate

The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

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The march organised in Milan on 1 October for the pre-COP © Lifegate

The Milan pre-COP is in full swing. With it, the mobilisation of activists calling on governments to make a leap forward in climate negotiations ahead of the twenty-sixth United Nations world climate conference, COP26, to be held in the first half of November in Glasgow. A march made up of around 50,000 people set off in the morning from Piazza Cairoli and wound through the city to reach the exhibition centre, where the delegates' meeting is taking place.

The march led by Greta Thunberg, Saoi O'Connor, Vanessa Nakate and Martina Comparelli

At the end of the march, young people from the Fridays for Future movement took the stage, whose leaders – amid music, dancing and colour – have been accompanying the mobilisation: Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, Ireland's Saoi O'Connor, Uganda's Vanessa Nakate, and Italy's Martina Comparelli. In particular, Nakate recalled that Africa, as a whole, "is responsible for a negligible share of global emissions, around 3 per cent. Despite this, the impact of climate change is growing ever stronger across the continent, as in the case of the floods that have struck Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi. Or the droughts that have hit Madagascar and Mozambique."

On this point, the activist reiterated the need for the world's wealthy nations to honour their promises in terms of transfers to poorer and more vulnerable countries: the only way to allow the latter to adapt to global warming. Greta Thunberg in turn insisted that "change will not come from 'blah blah blah', it will come from here, from these squares. That is why we keep striking. We have the right to protest and to be angry. We will continue until we get the result."

Fridays For Future Italia @fffitalia

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Siamo tantissimiii #ClimateStrike #UprootTheSystem #PreCOP26

905 23 1 ott 2021 · Apri su X →

Meanwhile, the young people who took part in Youth4Climate, the Youth Conference, have handed their demands to government representatives. Four hundred of them worked on drafting a document calling first and foremost for future generations to be involved in decision-making processes. The issue of climate change must indeed be tackled with an extremely long-term perspective. With policies that remain consistent for decades. And which cannot, today, be distorted by the desire to reap short-term political or financial dividends.

Young people call on governments to step up the pace at COP26

In this regard – the second demand to emerge from the youth COP – it will be necessary to ensure that post-Covid recovery itself takes place in a manner compatible with a drastic and immediate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union has set at a minimum of 37 per cent the share of funds allocated under the Green Deal that must go towards projects linked to the ecological transition. A figure considered insufficient, however, by non-governmental organisations. It will therefore be necessary to ensure that the entire world chooses to overcome the global recession without steering the international community away from the climate targets it has set itself.

For this reason too – and this is the third demand put forward at Youth4Climate – it is important to involve non-governmental actors more fully. To listen to civil society, to foster "cross-pollination" between the executive and citizens. Finally, the young people gathered in Milan called for programmes of climate change education to be launched: a fundamental step towards making societies aware of the gravity of the problem.

Student strike: music and colour march through Milan to save the climate and the future