Children who attend New York City public schools will be allowed to cut classes on Friday to join Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg for a protest at the United Nations.
“@NYCschools will excuse absences of students participating in the #ClimateStrike on Friday 9/20. Students will need parental consent. Younger students can only leave school with a parent,” the school district tweeted along with a tweet from Mayor Bill de Blasio saying the students would be allowed to take part in the protest.
Thunberg started Fridays for Future school walkouts in her hometown of Stockholm a year ago, a movement that has spread around the world and, according to the Fridays for Future website, 2,400 events will be taking place around the world from September 20 through September 27:
The week’s crescendo of events will bracket the UN Climate Action Summit taking place in New York on September 23rd. We’ll be sending global leaders the message that our #houseisonfire and that we’re calling on them to do what the science clearly tells us must be done.
All eyes are on the United States which already has 145 cities signed up, with participation that is expected to be tenfold when compared with he first two global strikes in March and May of this year.
New York is expecting a huge turnout, as is Montreal (Canada) which saw 150,000 take to the streets to demand climate action in the largest strike so far without the presence of Greta Thunberg.
Thunberg will be a featured speaker at the United Nation’s climate summit on September 23, and the Fridays for Future website states that her presence in the U.S. will “turbo-charge the North American movement.”
The Axios website reported the New York City school decision has caused other districts to review their plan for Friday.
“A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Unified School District told the NYT that officials were ‘still finalizing’ plans,” Axios reported. “Cambridge, Massachusetts, City Council members said they would discuss a motion on Tuesday to excuse students.”
“Climate change is the defining issue of our time and now is the defining moment to do something about it,” the U.N. website states about its summit. “There is still time to tackle climate change, but it will require an unprecedented effort from all sectors of society.”
“The Summit will spark the transformation that is urgently needed and propel action that will benefit everyone,” the website states.
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter