February2,2019

Marching with drum beating and holding signs, Belgian students have been absent from school for four consecutive Thursdays, dissatisfied about the state without any policy to deal with climate warming. The total number of protesting students has exceeded 30,000. They called on local politicians to take a more effective approach to climate change. 

There were 12,500 students in Brussels, 15,000 in Liège and 3,500 in Leuven, respectively. The leader of the activity is a Swedish student, Greta Thunberg, who said that most of the emissions were caused by a small number of rich people in Davos. Luka De Wever, another teenager whose sister is one of the organizers, saying that she believes they can change the world and that if they don't do it now, there will be no time in the future. Among the other participants, one of the 12-year-olds said that they spoke for themselves, and that he was upset by the fact that the Belgian government did not have a policy to effectively respond to climate change. 

Parents expressed support for the child to miss some class time and thought the event was very educational. In the parade in Brussels, from north to south through the city center, the participation of grandparents can also be seen. In addition, 3,450 scientists expressed that this is a new force to push the policy forward. Many politicians, including King Philip of Belgium, support the student demonstrations.

This protest has in turn influenced global youth, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Australia included. But each country faces different problems. Germany has promised to phase out nuclear power by 2020 and completely stop coal-fired power energy in 2038. Belgium has decided to import more energy to replace two old nuclear power plants.

After two months, Brussels once again assembled 70,000 people. The organizers urged Europe, world leaders and entrepreneurs to have more ambitious policies to achieve goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.