Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate

Last updated

Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate
FormationFebruary 2019;5 years ago (2019-02)
Type Advocacy group
Purpose Climate change mitigation
Nature conservation
Environmental protection
Region
Bristol, United Kingdom
Fields Climate justice
Environmental movement
Affiliations Fridays For Future
Website bristolys4c.org
The first Bristol climate strike, in February 2019 Bristol Youth Strike 15.02.19.jpg
The first Bristol climate strike, in February 2019

Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate (abbreviated as BYS4C) is an environmental advocacy group that was established in February 2019. [1] in response to the international Fridays for Future and Youth Strike 4 Climate movements. [2] Run by a team of student volunteers [3] aged 14 to 24, [4] the group have organised 10 climate strikes as of September 2020, calling for climate justice and drawing attention to the climate and ecological crisis.

Contents

Demands

BYS4C's website, as of December 2020, states the following demands: [5]

  1. Ensure air pollution across Bristol is at or below the legal limit.
  2. Free bus travel for under 18s and students.
  3. Pedestrianise roads in the city centre.
  4. 2021 Bristol Mayoral candidates must have a two term plan for 2030 carbon neutrality.
  5. Increased retrofitting of houses and clear regulations to ensure new builds adhere to 2030 carbon neutrality.

Bristol Airport Expansion

In April 2019, the group started a campaign against the proposed Bristol Airport expansion [6] which continued until the airport's planning permission was declined by North Somerset Council in February 2020. [7] [8] [9]

20 September 2019 Global Strike

On 20 September 2019, BYS4C took part in the Global Strike 4 Climate [10] [11] [12] [13] which was the biggest ever worldwide climate protest. The event reportedly drew crowds of 15,000 with 4 million protestors taking to the streets globally. [14]

28 February 2020 'Greta Thunberg' strike

On 28 February 2020, the group became the only UK-based climate strike group to host Greta Thunberg. [15] [16] [17] The protest was organised in just under a week due to short notice, with an estimated 30,000 people [18] joining the group to call for climate action. [19] Despite the limited organisation time and public concern over safety, [20] [21] [22] the event proceeded without any major incidents and organisers were praised by both the authorities and Greta Thunberg's team for their ability to host such a large event with minimal resources. [23] The protest resulted in some controversy as College Green, the location of the protest, became very muddy due to the high footfall and wet weather conditions. [24] However, despite claims that Bristol City Council would have to pay to replace the grass and a GoFundMe page started to cover these costs, [25] the grass regrew within a week with no intervention. [26]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College Green, Bristol</span> Public open space in Bristol, England

College Green is a public open space in Bristol, England. The Green takes the form of a segment of a circle with its apex pointing east, and covers 1.1 hectares. The road named College Green forms the north-eastern boundary of the Green, Bristol Cathedral marks the south side, and City Hall closes the Green in an arc to the north-west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate change in Europe</span> Emissions, impacts and responses of Europe related to climate change

Climate change has resulted in an increase in temperature of 2.3 °C (2022) in Europe compared to pre-industrial levels. Europe is the fastest warming continent in the world. Europe's climate is getting warmer due to anthropogenic activity. According to international climate experts, global temperature rise should not exceed 2 °C to prevent the most dangerous consequences of climate change; without reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, this could happen before 2050. Climate change has implications for all regions of Europe, with the extent and nature of impacts varying across the continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate movement</span> Nongovernmental organizations engaged in climate activism

The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. Environmental non-profit organizations have engaged in significant climate activism since the late 1980s and early 1990s, as they sought to influence the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Climate activism has become increasingly prominent over time, gaining significant momentum during the 2009 Copenhagen Summit and particularly following the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greta Thunberg</span> Swedish environmental activist (born 2003)

Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September 2019 climate strikes</span> Fridays for Future global school climate strikes

The September 2019 climate strikes, also known as the Global Week for Future, were a series of international strikes and protests to demand action be taken to address climate change, which took place from 20 to 27 September 2019. The strikes' key dates were 20 September, which was three days before the United Nations Climate Summit, and 27 September. The protests took place across 4,500 locations in 150 countries. The event stemmed from the Fridays for Future school strike for climate movement, inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. The Guardian reported that roughly 6 million people participated in the events, whilst 350.org – a group that organised many of the protests – claim that 7.6 million people participated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School Strike for Climate</span> International youth movement for climate action

School Strike for Climate, also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate, is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand action from political leaders to prevent climate change and for the fossil fuel industry to transition to renewable energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earth Strike</span> Climate activist movement

Earth Strike is an international grassroots movement that called for a global general strike for climate action. Their aim was a global general strike lasting from 20 until 27 September 2019. The movement has had public support from organizations including Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future, as well as public figures including Noam Chomsky. The Earth Strikes were part of the worldwide September 2019 climate strikes, which gathered millions of protesters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luisa Neubauer</span> German climate activist

Luisa-Marie Neubauer is a German climate activist. She is one of the main organisers of the school strike for climate movement in Germany, where it is commonly referred to under its alternative name Fridays for Future. She advocates a climate policy that complies with and surpasses the Paris Agreement and endorses de-growth. Neubauer is a member of Alliance 90/The Greens and the Green Youth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UK Student Climate Network</span> English and Welsh environmental organisation

UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) was a student-led climate justice organisation operating in England and Wales founded by Anna Taylor, then aged 17, on 1 December 2018, along with Ivi Hohmann and Daniela Torres Perez. It disbanded in 2020, with only a few members left who acted as caretakers for the organisation’s remaining funds, before finally dissolving in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexandria Villaseñor</span> American climate activist

Alexandria Villaseñor is an American climate activist living in New York. A follower of the Fridays for Future movement and of fellow climate activist Greta Thunberg, Villaseñor is a co-founder of U.S. Youth Climate Strike and the founder of Earth Uprising.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg made a double crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in 2019 to attend climate conferences in New York City and, until it was moved, Santiago, Chile. She sailed from Plymouth, UK, to New York, United States aboard the racing yacht Malizia II, returning from Hampton, Virginia, to Lisbon on the catamaran La Vagabonde. Thunberg refuses to fly because of the carbon emissions of the airline industry and the trip was announced as carbon neutral. As a racing sailboat, the Malizia II has no toilet, fixed shower, cooking facilities or proper beds.

The 2019 UN Climate Action Summit was held at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City on 23 September 2019. The UN 2019 Climate Summit convened on the theme, "Climate Action Summit 2019: A Race We Can Win. A Race We Must Win." The goal of the summit was to further climate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the mean global temperature from rising by more than 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above preindustrial levels. Sixty countries were expected to "announce steps to reduce emissions and support populations most vulnerable to the climate crisis" including France, a number of other European countries, small island countries and India. To increase pressure on political and economic actors to achieve the aims of the summit, a global climate strike was held around the world on 20 September with over four million participants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ayakha Melithafa</span> South African climate activist

Ayakha Melithafa is a South African environmental activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xiye Bastida</span> Mexican youth climate activist (born 2002)

Xiye Bastida Patrick is a Mexican climate activist and member of the Indigenous Otomi community. She is one of the major organizers of Fridays for Future New York City and has been a leading voice for indigenous and immigrant visibility in climate activism. She is on the administration committee of the People's Climate Movement and a former member of Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion. She cofounded Re-Earth Initiative, an international nonprofit organization that is inclusive and intersectional “just as the climate movement should be.” Xiye is pronounced "she-yeh", [ʃi-jɛ], meaning not available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speeches of Greta Thunberg</span>

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been noted for her skills as an orator. Her speech at the 2019 United Nations climate summit made her a household name. Prior to her speaking engagements, Thunberg had demonstrated outside the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, using the signage Skolstrejk för klimatet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Licypriya Kangujam</span> Indian climate activist (born 2011)

Licypriya Kangujam is a child environmental activist from India. One of the youngest climate activists globally, she addressed world leaders at the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain, asking them to take immediate climate action. Licypriya has been campaigning for climate action in India since 2018, to pass new laws to curb India's high pollution levels, and to make climate-change literacy mandatory in schools. She has been regarded as India's Greta Thunberg, though she does not like the usage of this term.

Noga Levy-Rapoport is an Israeli-born British climate activist, speaker, and volunteer within British climate strikes at the UK Student Climate Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitzi Jonelle Tan</span> Philippine climate activist

Mitzi Jonelle Tan is a Filipino climate justice activist. She lives in Metro Manila, Philippines.

Matilde Alvim is a Portuguese environmental activist, one of those responsible for organizing the student climate strikes in Portugal that were inspired by the activities of the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

References

  1. Cork, Tristan (2019-02-14). "Are hundreds of Bristol children about to go on strike?". bristolpost.
  2. "Millions march against climate change worldwide". BBC News. 2019-09-20.
  3. "Meet the young Bristolians on strike to save our planet". Rife Magazine. 2019-11-07.
  4. "24 of the most inspiring people under 24 in 2019". Bristol 24/7. 2019-12-02.
  5. Demands - Bristol YS4C
  6. "Bristol schoolchildren hold climate protest at College Green - traffic updates".
  7. "Bristol airport expansion rejected". Archived from the original on 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  8. "Plan to expand Bristol airport rejected after climate protests".
  9. "Greta's Army: 'Why we're skipping school to save the planet'". itv.com.
  10. "Climate strike 20 September - adults to join youth strikers across the world". 2019-07-02.
  11. "Bristol students to hold 'largest ever' climate strike this month".
  12. "Labour Mayor refuses to back Climate Strike". bristolgreenparty.org.uk. 2019-09-13.
  13. "Bristol Greenpeace supports global climate strike". Archived from the original on 2020-06-27. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  14. "Over 4 Million Join 2 Days of Global Climate Strike". Global Climate Strike.
  15. "'World is on fire', Greta warns climate strike". BBC News. 2020-02-28.
  16. "Live: Greta Thunberg in Bristol".
  17. "Greta Thunberg joins thousands of protesters in Bristol".
  18. "Greta Thunberg joined by crowds of 30,000 at Bristol Youth Climate Strike". ITV News.
  19. Morris, Steven (2020-02-28). "Greta Thunberg in Bristol: schools shut as students join climate strike". The Guardian.
  20. "Statement on planned youth climate protest in Bristol". Avon and Somerset Police. 2020-02-24.
  21. "Bristol youth climate strikers hit back at claims Greta Thunberg visit won't have 'adequate safety measures'". ITV News.
  22. "Parents warned ahead of Greta Thunberg protest". BBC News. 2020-02-26.
  23. "Greta Thunberg praises Bristol climate change activists in appearance at Youth Strike 4 Climate March". ITV News.
  24. "Greta Thunberg rally damaged green space". BBC News. 2020-03-01.
  25. "campaigners raise more than 13k to repair College Green after Greta rally".
  26. "Greta climate protest site grass grows back". BBC News. 2020-03-03.