Labour leader says the government will 'hear demands' of youth activists.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke to climate change protesters in London's Parliament Square on the day that demonstrations by young activists sweep across Europe.
Corbyn said the climate demonstrations reminded him of demonstrations against the Iraq War in 2003, and he commended people for coming together "for peace and justice".
He thanked students for showing up to protest and talked about environmental protests in the 1970s. Corbyn said that people didn't believe protesters then even though the science was there.
He called for governmental changes including better measurements on the emissions of cars, aviation and shipping.
"Environmental damage and destruction, river pollution, sea pollution, and air pollution knows no national boundaries," Corbyn said.
Green industrial revolution
Corbyn added that green policies and green energy generation are about developing jobs for people and talked about inequalities amongst the population.
"That green industrial revolution can bring about I believe 400,000 decent good quality jobs," he said.
"Why is it that children growing up alongside a major road here in London, major road in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow or wherever should breathe worse air than perhaps slightly better off children growing up in a leafy suburb? I want every child to grow up breathing clean air," Corbyn said.
Corbyn called out U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for their environmental policies as well.
"What is disgraceful is when you get the president of a major country like the United States saying he will walk away from the Paris climate change accord," Corbyn said, receiving a big audience reaction.
"Let's have no more of this hand-holding with Donald Trump. Let's quite simply say that we want every country on board on this," he said.
Corbyn said that he wanted to work with Brazil to "preserve and protect the Amazon rainforest."
He ended by saying that all government policies had to change, and said the environment needed to be "a state of mind".