Swedish activist joins German pupils in climate strike

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joined a pupils' strike for climate action in the city of Hamburg on Friday.

"Fridays For Future" strikes have been organized and attended by groups of pupils and students in several German cities every Friday to call for stronger action on climate change by the German government.

Sixteen 16-year old Greta Thunberg's appearance in Hamburg was her first visit to a pupils' strike in Germany. Appearing onstage in front of young protesters, she said that "for way too long, the politicians and people in power have gotten away with not doing anything to fight the climate crisis".

The Swedish activist added that "we are striking because we have done our homework and they have not. If they don't do anything then we will."

The German government recently adopted recommendations by the German coal exit commission to end coal-fired power generation in Germany by 2038, with the possibility of bringing this date forward to 2035.

The participants of "Fridays For Future" in Germany would like the German government to go further, writing on their website "we demand more climate protection and a coal phase-out from the German government - and not just in ten years' time".

Thunberg first began protesting in front of the parliament in Stockholm, Sweden, to push her country to do more to fight climate change. She has since spoken at the UN Climate Change Conference in Poland and at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

After her appearance at the World Economic Forum, rumors about the financial independence of the young activist started spreading on the internet. The young activist answered via Twitter that "I am absolutely independent and I only represent myself. And I do what I do completely for free, I have not received any money or any promise of future payments in any form at all."

In response to recent hate speech against Thunberg, two pupils from a school in Hamburg started an online petition titled #WeLOVEGreta to show support. Over 72,000 people had signed the petition, the two pupils announced during the protest in Hamburg as they presented the Swedish activist with a symbolic letter of support.

The "Fridays For Future" movement, inspired by Greta Thunberg's initial activism, has found resonance with pupils and students around the world. In Germany alone, around 155 local groups of school pupils and university students are part of the global movement. According to Hamburg police, 3,000 protesters had signed up for the strike in Hamburg on Friday.