Fridays for Future (FFF), also called the School Strike for Climate (Swedish: Skolstrejk för klimatet [ˈskûːlstrɛjk fœr klɪˈmɑ̌ːtɛt]), is a global group of students who miss Friday classes to join protests. These protests ask political leaders to take action to stop climate change and urge companies that use fossil fuels to switch to renewable energy. The movement began when a Swedish student named Greta Thunberg held a protest outside the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, in August 2018. She carried a sign that read "Skolstrejk för klimatet" ("School strike for the climate").
A global protest on March 15, 2019, had more than one million people join 2,200 protests in 125 countries. On May 24, 2019, the second global protest included 1,600 demonstrations in 150 countries, with hundreds of thousands of people participating. These protests happened at the same time as the 2019 European Parliament election.
The 2019 Global Week for Future included 4,500 protests in over 150 countries, mainly on September 20 and 27. These protests were likely the largest climate demonstrations in history. On September 20, about 4 million people joined, many of them students, including 1.4 million in Germany. On September 27, an estimated 2 million people participated worldwide, with over one million in Italy and several hundred thousand in Canada.
Earlier school climate strikes
In November 2006, the Australian Youth Climate Coalition was created to plan climate change activities for young people and students. In 2010, in England, students left school to protest about climate change. This was connected to a Climate Camp. In late November 2015, a group of students on their own asked students worldwide to skip school on the first day of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. On November 30, the first day of the conference, a "Climate strike" was planned in more than 100 countries. Over 50,000 people took part. The movement had three goals: using 100% clean energy, not using fossil fuels, and helping people who need to move because of climate change.
Greta Thunberg and beginnings, 2018
On August 20, 2018, Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old Swedish climate activist, decided not to attend school until the September 9, 2018, general election in Sweden. This decision followed heat waves and wildfires in the country. Greta said she was inspired by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who organized the March for Our Lives protest. To show her concerns about climate change, Greta sat outside the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, during school hours with a sign that read "Skolstrejk för klimatet" ("school strike for climate"). She asked the Swedish government to reduce carbon emissions as required by the Paris Agreement. On September 7, just before the election, she announced she would continue her strikes every Friday until Sweden met the Paris Agreement goals. She created the slogan "Fridays for Future," which became well-known worldwide and encouraged students in many countries to join climate strikes.
Climate strikes for schools began in other parts of the world, inspired by Greta. The first strike with more than one person happened in The Hague, Netherlands, in September outside the Dutch parliament. It was led by Sandor van Gessel, Anne-Laure Stroek, Ianthe Minnaert, and Ellis van der Borgh. Soon after, thousands of students in Australia participated in Friday strikes, ignoring Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s request for more school learning and less activism. Inspired by the COP24 Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland, climate strikes took place in at least 270 cities in December. These included countries such as Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Growing movement, 2019
In 2019, strikes were organized again in the countries listed above and in other countries, including Colombia, New Zealand, and Uganda. Large protests happened on January 17 and 18, 2019, when at least 45,000 students in Switzerland and Germany protested against not enough policies to stop global warming. In several countries, such as Germany and the UK, students asked for laws to be changed so that people aged 16 could vote in public elections to help youth.
In August 2019, Thunberg traveled to New York City by sailboat for two weeks to continue raising awareness about the need to address the climate crisis. She joined school strikes planned in the United States on September 20, 2019, and later spoke at the UN Climate Summit on September 23, 2019, in New York City.
In Germany, local groups used WhatsApp to communicate and shared messages through flyers and social media. By February 2019, more than 155 local groups were part of the movement. In the United States, organizers worked on a state-by-state level, using Slack to communicate and sharing messages through flyers and social media. By February 2019, more than 134 groups were counted. Groups such as Sunrise Movement, 350.org, OneMillionOfUs, Earth Uprising, Future Coalition, Earth Guardians, Zero Hour, and Extinction Rebellion helped organize these efforts.
The Belgian environment minister for Flanders, Joke Schauvliege, resigned on February 5, 2019, after falsely claiming that the state security agency had proof that the school strikes in Belgium were a "set-up."
In the United Kingdom, on February 13, 2019, 224 academics signed an open letter supporting students participating in the School Strike for Climate action. On February 15, more than 60 actions took place in towns and cities across the UK, with about 15,000 people participating.
Climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research spoke at a Fridays for Future climate strike in Potsdam, Germany, on the same day. On February 21, 2019, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, said he planned to spend hundreds of billions of euros on climate change solutions, equal to one-fourth of the EU budget. He made this statement during a speech next to Greta Thunberg, and media credited the school-strike movement with influencing this decision.
On March 5, 2019, 700 German-speaking scientists signed a statement supporting school strikes in Germany. Other scientists were invited to join, and by later, over 26,800 scientists from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland had signed the statement.
On May 9, 2019, during a European Union summit in Sibiu, representatives from the movement across Europe met with leaders from several European countries and handed them an open letter signed by more than 16,000 climate strikers and supporters.
On March 15, 2019, a series of school strikes urged adults to take responsibility and stop climate change. More than one million people participated in about 2,200 events in 125 countries worldwide.
On March 1, 2019, 150 students from the global coordination group of the youth-led climate strike, including Thunberg, published an open letter in The Guardian.
In Scotland, city councils in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Highland, and Fife allowed children to attend the strikes. In Finland, schools sent parental consent letters, and in Turku, the school board said children had a constitutional right to join the strikes.
On March 15, 2019, in a Guardian guest editorial titled "Think we should be at school? Today's climate strike is the biggest lesson of all," students including Thunberg, Anna Taylor, Luisa Neubauer, Kyra Gantois, Anuna De Wever, Adélaïde Charlier, Holly Gillibrand, and Alexandria Villaseñor explained why they were striking.
In Germany, over 300,000 students protested in 230 cities, with more than 25,000 in Berlin alone. Students were supported by the newly formed group Parents for Future. In Italy, over 200,000 students protested, with 100,000 in Milan. In Montreal, more than 150,000 attended; in Stockholm, 15,000 to 20,000; in Melbourne, 30,000; in Brussels, 30,000; and in Munich, 8,000. Other cities included Paris, London, Washington, Reykjavík, Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen, and Tokyo. In Antarctica, at least seven scientists held a supportive rally at the Neumayer Station III of the Alfred Wegener Institute.
In New Zealand, the strikes were affected by the Christchurch mosque shootings on the same day. The Christchurch strike was canceled for safety, but students in other parts of New Zealand continued. Some students learned about the shootings only when they watched the evening news.
- School Strike for Climate in front of the Parliament House, Helsinki, March 15, 2019
- "Fridays for Future" in Toronto, March 15, 2019
- School strike in San Francisco, March 15, 2019
- School strike in Cleveland, March 15, 2019
- School strike for climate in Wellington, March 15, 2019
- A speech delivered from the stairs of the Jardin Darcy in Dijon, France, for the global climate strike on March 15, 2019
A second wave of global climate strikes started with actions in New Zealand and Australia on May 24, 2019. Hundreds of thousands of students participated in over 1,600 towns across at least 125 countries. Thunberg, one of the organizers, said the strike happened on the second day of the four-day 2019 European Parliament election to influence it. Polls showed climate change was an important issue for voters, especially in Germany.
Fridays for Future Deutschland called for a major climate strike with the motto "Climate justice without borders – United for a future" and invited people from 17 countries to Aachen on June 21,
Later events, 2020s
On September 25, 2020, a global climate strike happened. People in thousands of places around the world participated in the event.
On Friday, March 19, 2021, another global climate strike occurred. Protests took place in hundreds of locations worldwide. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, fewer people could gather in person compared to earlier years.
On June 15, 2021, the Auckland chapter of New Zealand’s School Strike 4 Climate movement officially ended its activities. The group stated it had been racist toward BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color). It decided not to organize strikes anymore and instead promised to support BIPOC-led climate justice efforts. The ending of the Auckland chapter caused different reactions. Mary Moeono-Kolio, a leader of 350 Pacific Climate Warriors in Wellington, and Sophie Hanford, the founder and national coordinator of School Strike, said racism had no place in the climate movement and called for Indigenous leadership in climate justice. Anevili, a spokesperson for Te Ara Whatu, an Indigenous youth climate group, said the decision helped address racism but worried activists of color might be unfairly blamed for the chapter’s end.
On September 24, 2021, climate strikes were planned in more than 1,400 locations worldwide. Events took place in over 90 countries, with large gatherings in Europe, America, and Africa. Some of the biggest demonstrations happened in Germany. Greta Thunberg spoke to more than 100,000 people in Berlin and said, “No political party is doing enough.”
On March 25, 2022, a global climate strike occurred.
On September 23, 2022, another global climate strike took place. More than 30,000 people joined the event in Berlin.
On March 3, 2023, a global climate strike happened. In Germany, over 240 locations held strikes, including Berlin, where more than 18,000 people participated. According to FFF Germany, over 220,000 people protested German climate policies, especially in the transportation sector.
In New Zealand, climate strikes were held in several cities and towns, including Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson, Napier, New Plymouth, and Palmerston North.
Digital climate strike
The online climate strike movement, also called the "digital strike," was started in April 2019 by two activists, Iris Zhan from Howard County, Maryland, United States, and George Zhang from Los Angeles, California. This movement was created to help people who cannot join climate protests in person. In March 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Greta Thunberg asked participants to stay home, hold signs, and share pictures online instead of gathering in public places. The movement became very popular during the pandemic because many people could not meet in large groups. It gained attention from groups like Greenpeace and Amnesty International.
Since its start, the Fridays for Future Digital movement has worked on campaigns to teach climate change in schools and support indigenous activists by helping them avoid unfair government rules.
Scientific background
Human activities are releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat, causing the Earth’s climate to warm through a process called the greenhouse effect. In the past, natural sources like volcanoes and microbes released carbon dioxide, which helped prevent the Earth from becoming permanently frozen. However, since the Industrial Revolution, human actions have greatly increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, leading to more severe global warming and climate change.
The only ways carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere are through geological processes, such as weathering and the formation of rocks that store carbon, which take hundreds of thousands of years. Another method is through plants absorbing carbon, which can lock it away for centuries unless the plants burn or decay without being replaced.
Fossil fuel companies and governments are responsible for much of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. They have not taken enough steps to reduce these emissions. A 2019 statement signed by over 12,000 scientists said, "Young people's concerns are justified and supported by the best available science."
On January 31, 2019, more than 3,400 Belgian scientists and academics signed a letter supporting school climate strikes. The letter stated, "Based on climate science facts, the campaigners are correct. That is why we support them." Similar letters were signed in the Netherlands by 340 scientists and in Finland by 1,200 researchers. A 2019 article in Nature noted that scientists worldwide supported the strikes without offering criticism. One scientist said, "The idea of a climate strike is innovative. It's provocative, and I think it's the right form of non-violent civil disobedience."
In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, scientists formed a group called Scientists for Future (S4F) to support the movement’s scientifically accurate claims. Over 26,000 scientists and scholars signed the group’s statement.
On March 14, 2019, the Club of Rome issued a statement supporting Greta Thunberg and the strikes, urging governments to cut global carbon emissions.
In early April 2019, a letter titled "Concerns of young protesters are justified" was published in Science. The letter, signed by over 3,000 scientists worldwide, stated that the climate strikers’ concerns are "justified and supported by the best available science."
In June 2019, 1,000 healthcare professionals in the UK and other countries called for non-violent civil disobedience in response to government policies they called "woefully inadequate." They urged leaders and media to address the ecological emergency and support the school strikes and Extinction Rebellion.
On October 14, 2020, Fridays For Future Germany released a report from the Wuppertal Institute. The report used scenario analysis to outline a realistic plan for Germany to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035.
Fridays For Future International created an appeal endorsed by Scientist Rebellion and 61 scientists, including Michael Meeropol, Don Trent Jacobs, Allan J. Singer, and Stefan Sommer. The appeal connects peace, justice, and climate action. It argues that solving the ecological crisis requires ending overconsumption, which is impossible while wars continue. Economic growth (measured as GDP) directly supports military spending. Since climate change affects everyone, the appeal promotes peace and justice as shared goals. Twenty-four organizations and activists, including Tori Tsui and Betsy Rosenberg, supported the appeal.
Reactions by schools, politicians, and parents
The climate strikes have received both approval and disapproval from adults in positions of power. In the European Union, the movement gained support from Volt Europa, a pan-European political group. According to a report by Parents for Future before the 2019 European elections, Volt Europa agreed with all the demands made by Fridays for Future in April 2019.
In the United Kingdom and Australia, some conservative politicians called the strikes "skipping school." In the UK, some students faced punishment or arrest for participating. Then-Prime Minister Theresa May criticized the strikes for wasting time that could be spent in class. Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the Labour Party, and Sir Vincent Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats, supported the strikes, as did other UK political leaders. UK energy minister Claire Perry said she would have joined the strikes when she was younger. David Reed, director of the charity Generation Change, noted that some school leaders may not understand the goal of improving education by encouraging students to engage with important issues like climate change.
In Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged students to focus more on learning and less on activism. Australia’s Education Minister Dan Tehan suggested that students should take action on important issues outside of school hours.
In New Zealand, responses varied. Some school principals threatened to mark students as truant for attending strikes without permission. Some politicians, like Judith Collins, dismissed the impact of the strikes, while Climate Change Minister James Shaw supported them, saying few people would notice the protests held on weekends.
On March 15, 2019, UN Secretary-General António Guterres supported the strikers, stating that "My generation has failed to respond properly to the dramatic challenge of climate change. This is deeply felt by young people. No wonder they are angry." He invited world leaders to a UN summit in September 2019 to discuss "concrete realistic plans to improve their climate goals by 2020."
Many parents, including public figures, have supported the climate strikes. A spokesperson for the "Our Kids' Climate" organization said that adults can help keep students safe during strikes and suggested using signs that show concern, such as "I'm a concerned mom." Moms Clean Air Force advised contacting school officials, providing snacks for students, and standing with signs to show support.
The Elders Climate Action organization created T-shirts showing a grandparent holding hands with a child. The group aims to involve grandparents, aunts, uncles, and others in protecting the future of children.
The term "climate strike" was named Collins Dictionary’s 2019 word of the year. The dictionary noted a 100 times increase in the use of the term in 2019, the largest increase of any word on their list.
Censorship
In July 2020, the Indian government blocked the website of the Fridays for Future group in India. The group was working to stop a new EIA Draft that the government had proposed, which many people disagreed with.
Awards
On June 7, 2019, Fridays for Future and Greta Thunberg received Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award. Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said: