*[Enwl-eng] The climate movement is stronger
ENWLine
Hi,
This is SO different from working in the office! Knowing and seeing are two different things: while I knew young climate shcool strikers are determined in their struggle, seeing the enthusiasm on their faces is beyond exhilarating. It’s been 3 hours, and I’m with tens of chanting and jumping young people. They’ve travelled to the heart of the European Union with a common plan. This:
School strikers from Poland, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, and many more countries, in the stunt, next to Greta Thunberg
Yes, last Thursday we were standing, joined by Greta Thunberg, right in front of the building where environment ministers from across the EU had gathered, to discuss the new Climate Law, proposed by the European Commission the day before. Thanks to a leak we had learnt the Climate Law is completely insufficient to end the climate emergency: it doesn’t even include a goal on carbon emissions reduction for 2030! [1]
And so tens of school strikers (and a bunch of journalists and intrigued MEPs) stood their ground.
Elena is one of the 19 young activists who have been able to come to Brussels and pressure their ministers thanks to our WeMove Europe community. [2] She has brought a portable speaker, and the young crowd is dancing to Children of the Revolution; some stop to hug one another in excitement. Their presence on the ground, right at the gates of the ministers’ meeting, was powerful, but there was more.
Hundreds of you stretched all the way to Brussels that morning through Tweets and Facebook messages - reminding ministers the youth were not dancing at the gates of the Council castle for fun, but because they are determined to do something about the climate emergency.
Finally, some ministers came out to meet us.
The Austrian, Swedish, Luxembourgian and Spanish environment ministers spoke to the international youth and admitted recent progress on climate policy followed mass mobilisations, encouraging young people to continue to take to the streets [3].
As of recently, our community has been supporting young climate activists - especially in those countries where support is needed most, like in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania. We were determined that people from all corners of Europe were represented in Brussels - and we made it possible!
Youth march for climate action last Friday
Whether you sent a Tweet or posted a Facebook message, whether you made a donation or learnt about and shared what happened last Thursday - you made a difference.
But there’s so much more to do. Only a handful of ministers came out of their castle to meet young people from their countries. None of the ministers whose governments are reluctant, or even openly against a more ambitious Climate Law, did...
That’s why our work continues beyond the fantastic actions of last week in Brussels. We want to continue to help youth groups in Eastern Europe rock their governments, particularly as they gear for a Global April of mobilisations.
Thank you,
Virginia, David, and the WeMove Europe team
PS. Elena said “we’ve come here from Eastern Europe to send a message to our politicians that we are willing to go as far as needed to make our voices heard. If they keep ignoring us, we will try harder to make sure the EU will listen to us”. In response, Greta announced she’ll join the Global April mobilisations in Romania, to support their efforts. We’re getting there! But we need to keep working to make the climate movement stronger across our continent. Could you donate to make it happen?
References:
[1]
http://www.caneurope.org/publications/press-releases/1891-eu-ministers-call-for-discussions-on-the-eu-2030-climate-target-to-start-as-soon-as-possible
[2]
Elena's name has been changed to protect her identity; she comes from Romania
and coordinates grassroots actions in Bucharest to fight climate chaos
[3]
http://www.aquieuropa.com/noticia/67670-espana-califica-de-insuficiente-la-ley-climatica-europea
WeMove.EU is a citizens’ movement, campaigning for a better Europe; for a European Union committed to social and economic justice, environmental sustainability and citizen-led democracy. We are people from all walks of life, who call Europe our home whether we were born in Europe or elsewhere.
WeMove Europe SCE mbH | Planufer 91 Berlin | www.wemove.eu | Privacy policy
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