At today’s Fridays For Future march, Education International stood in solidarity with students, unions and other civil society groups to demand immediate action against climate change.
The 20th of September 2019 will be remembered as the day when the Fridays For Future movement took over all sectors of society. Millions around the world are joining students in the streets to call for immediate action to tackle climate change, curb emissions and ensure a just transition. Education International (EI) participated in the march in Brussels.
Climate emergency in education
In a blog post published in the runup to the Week of Climate Action, EI President Susan Hopgood spoke about the strong mandate for climate justice given by the 8th EI World Congress through a resolution on the role of education in fighting climate change and a resolution on the need for increased global cooperation in education and research to address the climate crisis. Hopgood announced her plans to “go to the United Nations in New York to declare a climate emergency in education,” adding that “there is no time to lose.”
Today, marching in the streets alongside students and other activists, David Edwards, EI General Secretary, reinforced the message that education systems must be updated to tackle climate change, stating that educators are “determined to make sure climate justice and sustainability are taught across subjects in all countries, that all classrooms are free of climate change denial, that schools themselves become sites of climate action.”
Here are pictures of today’s march in Brussels.