Hi John,

Almost exactly one year ago, Greta Thunberg began her "school strike for
the climate". Her argument was that if the world’s adults weren’t willing
to prepare the planet for her generation, they had no right to demand that
her generation spend their youth preparing for the future. 

Kids across the planet saw the logic. Since then the biggest days of
youth-led action have seen 1.4 million students out of the classroom and
on the streets. [ [link removed] ]Now, after a year of striking, they’re trying something
new — they’re asking adults to join them.

In September, there will be the first all-ages global climate strike
(depending on where you live, this might be the 20th or 27th). People will
walk out of their jobs at some point during the day — some will plant
trees, others will join protests. 

The targets will be as diverse as the geography: in different parts of the
planet, people will be sitting down in front of pipelines; demanding that
their institutions divest fossil fuel stocks; urging UN nations to
increase their carbon-cutting commitments; calling for carbon taxes;
insisting on a Green New Deal. Athletes have pledged to join in, as have
chefs and actors and politicians. Unions and businesses are taking part.
It’s likely that the Global Climate Strike will mark the largest day of
climate protest in the planet’s history.

Will a single strike solve the climate crisis? Of course not. But the
September strike will demonstrate two invaluable principles.

The first is that solving the climate crisis will involve disrupting
business as usual. Even amid the greatest physical crisis human
civilization has ever faced, we mostly get up each morning and do the same
things we did the day before. There’s nothing to indicate we’re in an
emergency, an emergency that grows deeper as each month passes. 

[ [link removed] ]Adults like you and me should consider joining this walkout as a
statement that they’re committed to disruptive, transformative change.

The second principle is that elders need to act like elders. On what kind
of world do we expect 15-year-olds to tackle our biggest problems by
themselves?

The climate crisis represents an assault on justice (those who have done
the least to cause it suffer the most) but also an assault on the future.
A future that some have a larger share in, simply because they’ll be alive
longer. For the rest of us — those who will die before climate change
reaches its burning zenith — the strike is a chance to show that our
affection for our children and their children is sincere.

There’s no guarantee that we can still solve the climate problem. One can
be excused for despairing, but not for walking away. Especially at the
most desperate moments, human solidarity is required. If a kid says help,
you help.

[ [link removed] ]Will you join the Global Climate Strike this September?

Thank you,

Bill McKibben, for 350.org

PS: We know that a whole day of striking is a big ask, and not everyone
will be able to do it. If you can’t strike or support the protesting youth
in another way, [ [link removed] ]will you consider chipping in to support the work 350
is doing to make this day the biggest climate mobilisation ever?


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