Environmental groups yesterday urged students nationwide to join the Global Climate Strike For Future on May 24 to demand concrete action from adults and the government on climate change.
The groups were accompanied by more than a dozen junior-high school and university students at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance convener Yeh Guang-peng (葉光芃) said that Swedish teenage climate advocate Greta Thunberg in August last year initiated the “school strike for climate” outside the Swedish Parliament, adding that the movement spread around the world, leading to a global youth climate strike on March 15.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The strike was followed by a series of climate change protests in London last month, and British lawmakers last week declared an “environment and climate emergency,” making the UK the first country to do so, he said.
Climate change does not only cause enormous agricultural losses, but it also threatens people’s lives, as seen in Kaohsiung’s Siaolin Village (小林), which was wiped out by Typhoon Morakot in 2009, Yeh said.
The WHO in 2016 estimated that about 12.6 million deaths a year were associated with environmental pollution, he said.
The UK has reduced its annual carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels for five consecutive years, as it is aware of the urgent need for climate change action, Yeh said, adding that Taiwan should follow suit, given its high carbon dioxide emissions.
Chen Yen-ting (陳彥廷), a student at Changhua Senior High School, expressed the hope that the goal of keeping global warming under 1.5°C compared with pre-industrial levels can be achieved to protect the world, adding that everyone should take action, as the issue affects the entire planet.
Chang Ting-wei (張庭瑋), a student at Heng Yee Catholic High School, said that the government should announce a schedule for phasing out the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power in energy generation.
As Taiwan frequently faces natural disasters and its people are at risk of becoming climate refugees, presidential candidates should tell the public about their climate change policies, he said.
“If we students do not have a future, then why do we need to go to school now?” he said.
Emma Liu (劉采薇), a 14-year-old student at Taipei American School, said she is concerned that when she turns 25 in 2030, she would be living in a world irreversibly altered by climate change, facing water shortages, food insecurity and the forced relocation of billions of people.
“We still have time,” she said, adding that while everyone can help make a difference by reducing their carbon footprint, the government should also take action.
Taiwan Alliance for the Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare secretary-general Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) said that politicians should honestly face the demands of about 5 million young people who cannot vote yet.
Many of the policies that politicians suggest for “boosting the economy” exploit the sustainable development of the younger generation, so they should instead come up with practical plans to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change, she said.
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