⁍ Young people rallied worldwide on Friday to demand urgent action to halt catastrophic climate change.

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⁍ Organisers said their aim was to remind politicians that, while the world focused on COVID-19, the climate crisis was more acute than ever.

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⁍ Demonstrations were planned in more than 3,100 locations, though with pandemic-related curbs limiting the size of gatherings, much of the action shifted online.

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– Students around the world are taking part in climate change protests Friday—one year after the first such protest inspired by Greta Thunberg, an 18-year-old Swedish activist. The Wall Street Journal reports that protests are planned in more than 3,100 locations, though smaller gatherings are being held in countries including Germany. “We need to treat the climate crisis as a crisis. It’s just as simple as that,” Thunberg told reporters in Stockholm, per Reuters. “The climate crisis has never once been treated as a crisis and unless we treat it as a crisis we won’t be able to, so-called, ‘solve’ it.” In Berlin, police say nearly 10,000 people took part in a protest outside the Brandenburg Gate, where they sat in face masks and chanted: “Strikes in school, university, and companies. That is our answer to your politics.” In Kampala, Uganda, dozens of young demonstrators gathered in a park, with some wearing headgear made of discarded plastic bottles. “The world was so focused on the California fires,” says activist Vanessa Nakate. “When California was burning, communities in Africa were flooding—but where was the attention?” In Nairobi, Kenya, about 30 activists gathered in a park, with some donning headgear made of discarded plastic bottles. Their protest centered around media reports, first published in the New York Times, that industry group the American Chemistry Council is lobbying to ensure Kenya continues importing foreign plastic trash. ACC has said the reports are inaccurate. “We say Africa is not a dumpsite, and Kenya is not a dumpsite.”