This year has seen activists step up their protests over climate change, calling on their governments to do much more. Inspired by Greta Thunberg, their demonstrations have come as temperature records were being set in scores of countries across the globe.
ADVERTISEMENT"We are in the middle of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is the money and fairytales of eternal economic growth. How dare you!"
With these words during a speech at the UN, climate activist Greta Thunberg scolded world leaders, accusing them of failing to act on global warming.
The teenager shot to fame in 2019 and inspired millions of people to stand up and demand that governments fight against climate change.
Her Fridays for Future movement, along with the direct activism of Extinction Rebellion, has kept the climate emergency near the top of the news agenda for much of 2019.
This year has seen temperature records being set in scores of countries, wildfires burning unfathomable areas of forest, floods, typhoons and tornadoes wreaking havoc. The world is feeling the effects of the changing climate.
While the UN convened world leaders for the COP25 climate summit, agreements on future climate action were modest at best.
Adding to this Donald Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement, in the new year activists will likely only be upping their efforts to persuade world leaders to take decisive action.