St Andrews students and school children back climate strike

Around 100 protestors took part in the Youth Strike 4 Climate event, with dozens of similar protests taking place across the UK, calling on world leaders to take more action to combat global warming.

In fact, so many people turned up for the strike that the group had to be split in two, with students marching first, followed by school children, many of whom had skipped school.

The protests are part of a movement inspired by Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old Swedish schoolgirl, who has been missing lessons to sit outside government offices in her country in a bid to persuade lawmakers to comply with the Paris climate agreement.

This year marked the first time the protest had been held in St Andrews – last year four students travelled to Edinburgh to take part in the strike.

“It’s happening every month in cities around the world, inspired by Greta Thunberg,” explained Bethany Carol from St Andrews Climate Action.

“We wanted to do one in St Andrews to increase the number of places it’s being held.

“I think children and young people are the way forward. We want to get our voice out there.”

Bethany also confirmed there are plans to hold a protest again next month.

Student and eco activist Léa Weimann added: “I think it’s really important because all of us are always told to study hard and work hard for our future – but we have to question, what is our future?

“It’s really an emergency. It’s important to get the word out, even if it’s just in a small town like St Andrews. Our future depends on this and we want our politicians to take action.

“At the moment, the projections for what is happening with climate change is so much worse than even the worst predictions for what is going to happen.

“It’s an important to get that message out – that it is an emergency and we can’t continue living our lives as before. Time is running out and we need people to go out and do something about it.”