WEB DESK
Thousands of children have walked out of schools across Australia in protest of the government’s inaction on climate change, prompting a rebuke from a minister who said they were setting themselves up for “failure”.
Children, parents and teachers gathered in Sydney’s central business district in the lunch hour, chanting “ScoMo’s got to go”, referring to Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
There were similar protests in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and elsewhere after students in the capital Canberra held a protest earlier in the week.
Protesters in several Asia-Pacific cities are responding to 16-year-old climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg’s call to action. The protests have taken on extra urgency in Australia, where hundreds of damaging bushfires devastated country’s southeast recently.
The protesters, turned out as Sydney was again enveloped in toxic smoke caused by the fires that have blanketed the city for much of the last month.
Six people have died and hundreds of homes have been destroyed in the crisis, which scientists say has been worsened by rising temperatures. Drought and unseasonably hot, dry and windy conditions have fuelled the unprecedented blazes.
The target of the protesters’ ire was Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has angrily denied any link between the fires and climate change while defending his support for fossil fuels.
Protests also took place in Melbourne and Tokyo, where hundreds marched through the teeming Shinjuku district to raise awareness of the issue.