Students around the world and in Kelowna are calling for immediate action to address climate change.
The demonstrations are part of a Global Climate Strike to protest government inaction on global warming.
Student Aiden Kenny helped organize the march in Kelowna.
“We’re passionate about climate change. And in the Okanagan, you can see the effects already with the increased wild fires”
The youth movement comes less than a year removed from a dire United Nations report on climate change. The report warns world leaders have eleven years to avert environmental catastrophe.
Kenny and his classmates feel the Federal Government have not acted to address the pressing environmental concerns threatening the planet.
“One of the big things we’ve talked about a lot is including indigenous perspectives and voices on environmental issues” said Kenny. “But also, we’d like to see the governments help to transition away from fossil fuel.”
Protestors are calling on the Federal Government to take a leadership role to environmentally and economically.
“There’s a lot of climate change activists that talk about how we need to end all use of fossil fuels” said Kenny. “We recognize that’s not very feasible, especially in Canada where we have a province that is completely based on the fossil fuels industry. For us, it’s more helping those communities to transition to a more environmentally sustainable future.”