How Street Protests Have Changed the Climate Debate

From Swedish teens skipping school to picket their parliament, to protesters dousing Wall Street’s iconic “Charging Bull” sculpture with fake blood, citizens are putting themselves at the forefront of the fight to limit climate change. A wave of student-led Climate Strikes has spread to more than 200 countries, while support for activist group Extinction Rebellion has grown worldwide, with crowds of non-violent demonstrators disrupting cities from Chicago to Tokyo to make their point. The protesters are demanding drastic action, in a campaign grounded in civil disobedience.

In the summer of 2018 -- Sweden’s hottest in 262 years -- Greta Thunberg, then a 15-year-old high school student, skipped class every day for three weeks to sit on the steps of the Swedish parliament with a sign declaring a “school strike for the climate.” Other students began joining her, or imitating her elsewhere, every Friday. The adult-dominated Extinction Rebellion started in London last November by blocking five key bridges for several days. They model their approach on the U.S. civil rights struggle and similar fights against South African apartheid, HIV/AIDS and wealth inequality.