Climate strikes success!
Thursday 20-02-2020 - 14:35
On Friday 14 February, Durham students held a huge climate strike. Anna Marshall writes about the experience.
Durham students taking part in the ‘Fridays for the Future’ climate strike movement last week met outside the Bill Bryson before marching down to join local Durham schoolchildren striking in Market Square.
Over 150 students met at the library to rally the University into a more urgent consideration of the climate emergency, with many signing the online petition asking the University to make plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible. This has so far gathered over 700 signatures.
The climate strike movement was inspired by Greta Thunberg, but this Valentine’s Day protest marked the one-year anniversary since the first Durham School Strike. Student organisers worked closely with local sixth formers to organise the strike, and the national #YouthStrike4Climate movement is planning another strike for the 13th March, to again be held in Market Square.
The ‘Durham U
ni Climate Strike’ campaign was started by the DU Amnesty International group in October 2019, which united over 20 societies to support the campaign and bring the youth strikes movement to Durham campus. Research conducted by the environmental lobbying group ECO DU has been used to inform the campaign, and demonstrate student support for the difficult changes which need to be introduced in order to avert further climate catastrophe.
Durham Uni Climate Strike releases its specific demands to the University Executive Committee ahead of each strike, in order to outline the tangible changes which students want to see made. These have now been condensed into five demands:
- Aim for carbon neutrality
- Change the University Structure
- Reduce student and college consumption
- Change staff behaviour
- Change the culture of the University to address the climate emergency
Many students contributed to the success of the Valentine’s Climate Strike. Thank you to all those who coordinated banner-making sessions, supplied materials, shared the event, changed their profile pictures, designed posters, told friends, announced in lectures and turned up on the day. We are changing the culture of this University. See you all again on the 13th March.
Photo credit: Caitlin Kinney
