SCOTTISH school pupils will join a climate strike next month ahead of crucial UN climate talks in Glasgow.
Friday for Future (FFF) Scotland (previously Scottish Youth Climate Strike) have confirmed they will be joining activists around the world to demand greater action on the climate crisis.
Due to be held on Friday September 24, the strikes will be held in four locations - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Ullapool.
The protest will be one of over 700 across the globe, which hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend.
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The strikes will take place just over a month ahead of COP26, held in Glasgow in November.
It comes as the UN Secretary General warned of a “code red for humanity” after the IPCC report revealed human activity is changing the climate in unprecedented and potentially irreversible ways.
The group are calling on the UK and Scottish Governments to commit to a just transition for oil workers into renewable energy, creating accessible public transport and committing to higher emissions targets as the current ones do not align with the Paris Agreement.
Activists held placards during a climate strike in Edinburgh in 2019 Credit: FoE Scotland
Glasgow will be marching from Kelvingrove Park to George Square starting at 11am.
In Stirling, the march will also start at 2pm at Port Street. Meanwhile, in Edinburgh there will be a rally outside the Scottish Parliament starting at 11am.
And in Ullapool, there will be a protest at the Clock Tower on Quay Street at 8.30am.
FFF Scotland are part of a global movement called Fridays For Future which began in Sweden by Greta Thunberg in August 2018.
Cora,15, from Edinburgh said: “While the covid19 pandemic has taken over the world, the climate crisis hasn't gone anywhere and has only continued to get worse. It has ravaged countless towns through floods across Europe, the wildfires in North America, droughts causing famines in Madagascar and Iran.
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“We can't afford to continue to ignore this crisis because the consequences will be catastrophic.”
Anna Brown, 19, from Glasgow said: “With COP26 coming to Glasgow, Scotland and the UK as a whole will be on the world stage.
"The UK has a historic responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, and COP is our opportunity to show that we are taking the science seriously and addressing the global inequality that makes the climate crisis so devastating.”
The stike will include a rally outside the Scottish Parliament Credit: FoE Scotland
Dylan Hamilton, 17, from West Lothian, added: “Scotland is not following the current science, we are using far more than our fair share of emissions to stay in line with the Paris Agreement.
“Real action has not been taken, despite many great promises from the government.
"The recent IPCC report has given us a code red warning, we can’t afford to move slowly anymore.”
The organisers added that if the risk of the spreading Covid-19 becomes too high to hold physical demonstrations, they are prepared to cancel them.
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