Millions march on climate change, Panama lags

 While millions of students around the world skipped school on Friday, to participate in a global protest, to ask political leaders for concrete and immediate actions against global warming. Panama could only muster a few hundred in front of the National Assembly, a small fraction of those who answer the call from the pulpits when the churches wish to block the introduction of sexual education into Panama schools.

Students from major cities, from Sydney to Manila, from Seoul to Brussels, San Francisco and  Los Angeles, responded massively to the call launched by the 16-year-old  Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who participated in a giant protest in New York where city authorities gave 1.1 million students the day off to participate.

In Panama, the politicians seemed unaware of the world event while a group of officials planned a jaunt to the US to drum up investment, while millions wondering whether there will be a world to invest in as the clock ticks down, will be watching a UN conference on climate change.

After listening to the young activists,  in New York, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said that in reality the world leaders talk too much and listen too little. He could have been referring to the National Assembly.

  The demonstrations began in Asia and the Pacific region, followed in Africa and Europe – with crowds in Paris, London, and Berlin – and ended in the United States.

While there is not yet an official figure, Thunberg is happy that ‘Friday for the future’, a movement he launched in 2018 with a banner in front of the Swedish parliament to demand actions against global warming, has summoned “millions”.

“The numbers are incredible, when you see the images, it’s hard to believe,” said the activist in New York City.  She hopes the activity “will be a turning point for society, to show how many people are involved. , how many people are pressing leaders, especially before the UN climate summit, ”she told the AFP news agency.

Organizers said protests were planned in 5,000 locations in 150 countries (including Panama). In Australia alone, more than 300. people participated. “This cannot go on like this. Our planet is coming to an end, ”said Bernie Waldman, 14, one of the thousands of students who protested in New York.

The rallies were the curtain-raiser to a week of events aimed at fighting global warming in New York, where the United Nations hosts the first youth summit for the weather and on Monday a climate summit with a hundred world leaders.  US President Donald Trump will not be one of them.