Panama and Global Climate Change

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Millions march on climate change, Panama lags

Posted 22/09/2019

While millions of students around the world skipped school on Friday, to participate in a global protest, to ask political leaders for concrete and immediate actions against global warming. Panama could only muster a few hundred in front of the National Assembly, a small fraction of those who answer the call from the pulpits when the churches wish to block the introduction of sexual education into Panama schools.

Students from major cities, from Sydney to Manila, from Seoul to Brussels, San Francisco and  Los Angeles, responded massively to the call launched by the 16-year-old  Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who participated in a giant protest in New York where city authorities gave 1.1 million students the day off to participate.

In Panama, the politicians seemed unaware of the world event while a group of officials planned a jaunt to the US to drum up investment, while millions wondering whether there will be a world to invest in as the clock ticks down, will be watching a UN conference on climate change.

After listening to the young activists,  in New York, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said that in reality the world leaders talk too much and listen too little. He could have been referring to the National Assembly.

The demonstrations began in Asia and the Pacific region, followed in Africa and Europe - with crowds in Paris, London, and Berlin - and ended in the United States.

While there is not yet an official figure, Thunberg is happy that 'Friday for the future', a movement he launched in 2018 with a banner in front of the Swedish parliament to demand actions against global warming, has summoned “millions”.

"The numbers are incredible, when you see the images, it's hard to believe," said the activist in New York City.  She hopes the activity "will be a turning point for society, to show how many people are involved. , how many people are pressing leaders, especially before the UN climate summit, ”she told the AFP news agency.

Organizers said protests were planned in 5,000 locations in 150 countries (including Panama). In Australia alone, more than 300. people participated. "This cannot go on like this. Our planet is coming to an end, ”said Bernie Waldman, 14, one of the thousands of students who protested in New York.

The rallies were the curtain-raiser to a week of events aimed at fighting global warming in New York, where the United Nations hosts the first youth summit for the weather and on Monday a climate summit with a hundred world leaders.  US President Donald Trump will not be one of them.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/environment/millions-march-on-climate-change-panama-lags

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Panama missing from worldwide climate change protests

Posted 30/11/2019

Hundreds of thousands of protesters calling for action against climate change gathered on streets in cities across the world on Friday, November 29 in advance of the UN summit in Madrid,  but there were no signs of support in Panama.

Some 630,000 people demonstrated in more than 500 cities in Germany, in the Fridays for Future movement inspired by the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg,

With posters proclaiming "A planet, a struggle" or "We are on strike until you act," thousands of young people gathered at the iconic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

In Hamburg, 30,000 protesters sounded the alarm against global warming, and in Munich, there were about 17,000, according to police.

Other actions were also carried out in Europe, although lower than the last worldwide mobilization, in September.

People demonstrated in Madrid, where a 12-day United Nations climate meeting, COP25, will take place next week with dire reports on the future of the planet are expected.

The goal of the summit is to encourage governments to intensify their efforts in the fight against climate change.

In France, the militants concentrated their anger against the Black Friday sales, blocking Amazon distribution centers in Paris, Lyon and Lille.

Thousands of young people gathered in Lisbon, where Greta Thunberg will arrive soon before traveling to Madrid for COP25.

In the United States, on a semi-festive day after Thanksgiving that was held on Thursday, activists gathered in the Capitol to hold a symbolic funeral.

The call was attended by actress Jane Fonda, who was arrested several times in recent weeks when she participated in climate change protests.

In Montreal, Canada, environmental associations demonstrated at the university where they distributed free used clothing to denounce the consumerism of Black Friday and its effects on the environment.

In Mexico, student groups returned to the streets with banners that said: "There is no planet B".

In, Sydney which kicked off the world demonstrations. The Australian metropolis was shrouded in a thick cloud of toxic smoke from the fires that ravage the eastern coast of the country.

Protesters gathered in front of the headquarters of the ruling conservative party accused of downplaying the threat of global warming. They waved banners that read "You burn our future" while chanting "We will rise."

Hundreds of forest fires devastated the states of New South Wales (Southeast) and Queensland

There were also protests in Tokyo, where thousands marched through the Shinjuku district.

"I feel a sense of crisis because almost nobody in Japan is interested" in climate change, said a 19-year-old student, Mio Ishida.

"I was very inspired by Greta's actions. I thought that if I didn't act now, it would be too late.."

In New Delhi, the world's most polluted capital, schoolchildren and university students, marched to the Ministry of Environment, carrying banners and chanting slogans demanding that the government declare a climate emergency.

India is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases in the world and has 14 of the 15 most polluted cities on the planet, according to a United Nations study.

Last month, millions of people rallied around the world in response to a call for a climate strike.

 

https://www.newsroompanama.com/environment/panama-missing-from-worldwide-climate-change-protests