As world leaders prepare to meet in New York for a UN Climate Summit next week, millions of young people in 150 countries skipped school on Friday and took to the streets to demand faster action against climate change.
It was one of the largest mobilisations of its kind since 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg launched the movement “Fridays for Future” last year.
The global climate strike kicked off in the Pacific islands and followed the rising sun through Australia, Japan, Southeast Asia and into Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Social media posts showed scores of demonstrations, ranging from a few dozen primary school children Nigeria, to tens of thousands of people in cities from Hamburg, in Germany, to Melbourne, Australia.
“This is about my future, not only my future, but the future of my entire generation and all the generations to come after ours,” said Tristan Vancleef, 16, among around 15,000 demonstrators who marched through the centre of Brussels.