35,000 play truant for the climate
A record number of schoolchildren and students gathered in Brussels today to call for action against climate change. The youngsters are playing truant for the climate. For a first time students from universities and schools of advanced learning too joined the protest.
It's the third week in a row that Belgian schoolchildren play truant for the climate. A couple of thousand turned up the first time. 12,500 last week and three times as many this week according to police figures. Student numbers are limited due to the current exams.
Slogans displayed include "There is no planet B" and "Don't f*** your mother earth". For the first time slogans in French are also more noticeable showing increasing interest in Brussels and beyond for the protests first launched by Flemish schoolchildren. Many schoolchildren also intend to join Sunday's climate demo. They want to show they have true commitment and are not simply playing truant to avoid school.
Similar protests were also staged in Ghent, Antwerp and Liege today.