Catalan students join international climate strike

Union calls on young people in major cities to take part in environmental protest involving hundreds of thousands in 105 countries

Students marching in Barcelona to demand climate action (by Rachel Bathgate)
Students marching in Barcelona to demand climate action (by Rachel Bathgate) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

March 15, 2019 12:44 PM

The climate change strike by students in various countries also reached Barcelona and other major towns on Friday, with hundreds taking to the streets to demand climate action.

Friday's strikes were called in more than 1,600 towns and cities in 105 countries. The global movement was inspired by Greta Thunberg's solo protest in Sweden in August.

The movement is calling for the nationalization of energy and fuel production, the nationalization of the automobile, shipmaking and aeronautic industries, as well as the cattle sector, and a public transport network that is free and environmentally-friendly.

The students are also calling for public recycling companies under the control of employees as well as for more sustainable production, and a handling of the economy that is "rational and respectful to the environment."

In Catalonia, the Sindicat d'Estudiants has called for "a major international movement" that brings together workers, young people and all disadvantaged sectors to attain real change in ending the "suffocating" control on global production by multinational companies.