From major cities to small towns, Australia opens climate week with the second-largest demonstration ever held in the country. All the details of the 20 September strike.
300,000 people took to the streets across Australia to demand greater action on the climate crisis, twice the number recorded during the first climate strike on 15 March. The estimates released by School strike for climate, the march's organisers, are remarkable.
100,000 people in Melbourne, 80,000 in Sydney, 30,000 in Brisbane, 20,000 in Adelaide and Hobart, 15,000 in Canberra and 10,000 in Perth. Today's was the second-largest demonstration ever held on Australian soil, second only to the march against the Iraq War in 2003, which saw the participation of 500,000 people.
Students took part in this protest, but so did their parents, their grandparents, their teachers, 33 trade unions, almost 3,000 businesses, the Anglican Church and the Uniting Church in Australia. And together they recorded record-breaking numbers. An official confirmation of these figures from the police is still pending, but by 1.50pm local time, 50,000 people had already been confirmed in Sydney alone.
The demonstrators made three demands of their government:
The strike lasted until 6:00 pm local time, and the demonstrators received official praise from police for their exemplary conduct throughout the day: not only were no arrests made, but the streets were left completely clean.
Today's strike in Australia has opened what promises to be a historic week: from today until next Friday, the day of the third global climate strike, the world is called upon to make its voice heard on the climate crisis. And as Greta Thunberg said: "take to the streets and be creative".
