Fridays for Future – The new global climate mobilization is a student movement born in the fall of 2018, inspired by the struggle of 16-year-old Greta Thunberg of Sweden. This young teenager had been affected by the great heat waves that hit Scandinavia in the summer of 2018, which were followed by unprecedented wildfires. Faced with the magnitude and exceptionality of those fires, we recall, Italy had also intervened with canadair planes.
The movement calls on governments around the world to take urgent and drastic measures to contain the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. According to a huge amount of scientific studies, in fact, the rapid increase of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, as a result of human activities, is causing a climate change that, within a few decades, could transform the planet.
Movement Fridays for Future argues that if we continue at the current pace and exceed the global average temperature increase by 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial period, various feedback loops (irreversible mechanisms, such as the melting of permafrost) will come into action causing a sudden rise in temperature. At that point, the situation would be totally out of control and no human intervention would be possible anymore. To avoid this real risk, global CO2 emissions must be halved by 2030 and reduced to zero by 2050.
On September 27, 2019, the 3rd Global Climate Strike was organized by the Fridays for Future movement. The first strikes were held on February 15, 2019 (we talked about it here) and May 24. On that occasion, demonstrations and mobilizations were also held in Italy in dozens of cities and even small towns. The movement returns to call for urgent measures to halve CO2 emissions and thus avoid a 1.5°C increase in global average temperature.
The movement calls for a paradigm shift to ensure a future for the next generations because the irresponsible consumption of the planet’s resources is causing damage that affects all its inhabitants.
Moreover, human activities have already initiated the sixth mass extinction in the history of the planet. In the face of these issues, the global movement calls for bold and rapid measures.