School children are going on strike on Friday to protest against a lack of action to tackle climate change.

Around 40 Youth Strike 4 Climate protests are expected across the UK, following in the footsteps of Greta Thunberg, a Swedish schoolgirl who held a month-long solo protest over the issue outside of her country's parliament.

Image: Greta Thunberg started the Youth Strike 4 Climate campaign

Up to 70,000 schoolchildren are taking part in 270 towns and cities worldwide.

Zoe Bonnett, 14, will be striking in Bristol and has written a letter to explain to her headteacher why she's taking action.

Dear headteacher,

I am contacting you to let you know why I am striking from school this Friday.

As you may know, this Friday, hundreds of young people will take to the streets to display their passion for addressing the climate crisis and to demand change.

I will be one of them, and have been coordinating the strike in Bristol.

I strongly believe that far from enough is being done to combat the emergency that we are facing, and system change is needed. The climate crisis should be top of everyone’s agenda, especially the government’s, because it is the biggest threat that the human race faces today.

In Autumn last year, the intergovernmental panel on climate change report published showed that we have only twelve years to turn the global economy around to keep warming to the 1.5 limit, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. This is why we need to act now!

It is important for you to know that striking from school for the climate is not something I am doing lightly.

I enjoy attending school and am aware that my school attainment and attendance can massively affect my future.

However, I think it is important enough to justify missing one or two days of school do my best to raise awareness of this issue.

Finally, here are the four united demands that the youth strikers want the government to listen to and act upon:

1. The government declare a climate emergency and prioritise the protection of life on Earth, taking active steps to achieve climate justice.

2. The national curriculum is reformed to address the ecological crisis as an educational priority.

3. The government communicate the severity of the ecological crisis and the necessity to act now to the general public.

4. The government recognise that young people have the biggest stake in our future, by incorporating youth views into policy making and bringing the voting age down to 16.

Thank you for reading this letter; I hope you understand the reasons why I am striking.

Yours sincerely,

Zoe Bonnett

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