As part of a fresh round of global climate protests, demonstrations are taking place in over 500 German cities — from Aachen to Zwickau. In Berlin alone, over 50,000 protesters are converging on the government district.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
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Climate change strikes worldwide — in pictures
Another round of global climate protests began on Friday ahead of the 12-day UN climate conference. Representatives from 200 countries are meeting in Madrid to finalize the "rulebook" for the 2015 Paris climate treaty,
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khan
Diving in with the rest
Young activists in Berlin took a dip in the city's Spree River to demonstrate their desire for more action on climate change. Their protest took place as Germany's upper house of parliament passed a raft of measures aimed at cutting emissions. However, critics of the package said it did not go far enough.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
Wanting a new start
Thousands of protesters gathered in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to voice dissatisfaction with a perceived lack of urgency on the part of the government. Some 50,000 people took part, demanding a "new start" for the government's climate policy.
Image: Reuters/H. Hanschke
Tide of opinion
"The climate is changing, why aren't we?" ask these protesters Rome. The historic Italian city of Venice was recently flooded, with the local mayor blaming climate change for the highest tide in 50 years. Climate protests took place in 138 Italian towns and cities, according to Fridays for Future Italia, including in major urban centers like Rome, Milan, Turin, Naples and Palermo.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Solaro
Message for the government
Activists and schoolchildren in Sydney kicked off the latest round of global protests against climate change on Friday by picketing the headquarters of Australia's ruling party. The protesters — brandishing placards that read "You're burning our future" and chanting "we will rise" — turned out as Sydney was again enveloped in toxic smoke caused by bushfires.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khan
Koalas under threat
The protests have taken on extra urgency in Australia — the country's southeast has been devastated by hundreds of damaging bushfires in recent weeks. Wildfires and drought have left the koala bear on the verge of "functional" extinction.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Khan
Japan — a victim of extremes
Hundreds of people marched through Tokyo's Shinjuku district to show their support for the Fridays For Future movement. Japan is no exception to abnormal weather patterns around the world in recent years. The island nation has been hit by increasingly frequent typhoons, and also by hotter weather. In October, Typhoon Hagibis ripped through central and north-eastern Japan, killing scores of people.
Image: Getty Images/C. Court
Forests For Future
Demonstrations also took place in Indonesia, where – in an effort to to protect tropical
forests - the government has issued a temporary ban on permits for palm plantations. However, critics say a lack of transparency has made it difficult to evaluate the moratorium's effectiveness. The global palm oil trade has been blamed as a major contributor to climate change by causing loss of vegetation.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/B. Ismoyo
Something in the air
In Delhi — the world's most polluted capital — students staged a march to the environment ministry carrying placards and demanding that the government declare a climate emergency. The country is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases and has 14 of the 15 most polluted cities in the world, according to a UN study.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Sankar
Targeting international talks
The protests took place as negotiators from some 200 countries prepared to meet for the COP25 climate conference in Madrid. Participants are seeking clearer rules on how to meet the requirements of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change. The accord aims to limit the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius.
Image: Getty Images/J. McCawley
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Three days before the start of the UN climate conference in Madrid, people have taken to the streets on Friday in 2,400 cities across 157 countries to protest government inaction on climate change.
The Fridays for Future movement said it thought some 100,000 climate strikers would participate in more than 500 demonstrations across Germany. Their demands include:
An end to fossil fuel subsidies;
Switching off a quarter of all coal-fired power stations;
Renewable sources to cover 100% of Germany's energy needs by 2035.
German climate package under fire
Thousands of protesters gathered in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to voice dissatisfaction with a perceived lack of urgency on the part of the government. Some 50,000 people took part, demanding a "new start" for the government's climate policy. Young activists in Berlin also took a dip in the city's Spree River to demonstrate their desire for more action.
As protests got underway, Germany's upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, passed a raft of measures aimed at cutting emissions. The legislation imposes obligations on government departments, forces a rise in fossil fuel prices and reduces the price of rail tickets in an effort to reduce travel by air and car.
Clara Meyer, from the Fridays for Future movement, told DW the measures did not go far enough.
"The problem is that it doesn't actually target or tackle the problem," Meyer said. "We need a much higher CO2 tax. We see this climate change package as basically just an embarrassment."
Global protests open in Australia
Activists and schoolchildren in Australia opened the day of protests by picketing the headquarters of the ruling conservative Liberal Party. Protesters directed their opposition at Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who has denied that there is any link between his government's climate change policies and bush fires sweeping large parts of the country.
In Japan, hundreds marched through Tokyo's Shinjuku district to show their support for the Fridays for Future movement.
The country has itself been hit by weather extremes in recent years, with increasingly frequent typhoons, and hotter weather. In October, Typhoon Hagibis ripped through central and north-eastern parts of the country, killing scores of people.
The protests took place as negotiators from some 200 countries prepared to meet for the COP25 climate conference in Madrid. Participants are seeking clearer rules on how to meet the requirements of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change.
The European Parliament on Thursday voted to declare an EU-wide climate emergency. The resolution called on the bloc to cut emissions by 55% by 2030 and become climate neutral by 2050.
