LOS ANGELES (CN) – Millions flooded the streets across the globe Friday to demand action from world leaders to address climate change and reduce carbon emissions in the next decade.
Many protesters, too young to vote, stressed the importance of curbing carbon emissions and to push for an end to new oil and gas projects.
Their call for help came in many languages, from South America to the Middle East, Australia and the United States.
In the Southern California city of Pasadena, 14-year-old Leah Haveson is a veteran at organizing climate protests. She continued with Friday's Climate Strike as she organized an 11-minute die-in on the steps of Pasadena’s city hall with over 300 people.
Haveson said she's inspired by 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg who protested outside Swedish Parliament in 2018 and this summer embarked on a transatlantic sailing trip from the United Kingdom to New York.
“She’s just such an inspiration,” Haveson said. “She set her mind to something and she just did it. I think that’s why I did it in the first place. I felt like I wanted to be part of the change."
Thousands rallied and marched in downtown Los Angeles, some calling for a Green New Deal, an environmental and economic set of policies that gained widespread attention last year. Other younger protesters wanted to point to the fear that grips their generation.
At a gathering at Pershing Square in downtown LA, 14-year-old student Treasure Brown said she is worried about her future.
"It makes me scared. We don't know how close we really are to destroying the planet," Brown said.
She admits that environmental justice can look differently between one neighborhood and the next, where some people might have more money and influence on the types of industrial businesses that can move in right next door.
"There's a plastics factory anywhere I used to practice and they would go and blow all their pollution everywhere," Brown said.
The Green New Deal has been bolstered by the youth-led Sunrise Movement in LA, who have advocated for a shift to renewable energy sources while maintaining steady jobs for the work force.
The shift to renewable energy sources could mean pulling the rug out from workers in the fossil fuel industry. The Green New Deal is advocating for fair contracts with the push to solar and wind power.
The Sunrise Movement also seek to have Congress pass laws based on scientific research, initiate lesson plans for students K-8 on the impacts of climate change, climate justice and the preservation of public lands.
The group said it's going to take a tremendous amount of effort to meet the ambitious goal of capping yearly global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels in the next decade.
Sunrise Movement member Natalie Rotstein, 21, said holding elected officials accountable to those goals is vital but so was finding a like-minded group to help her get a clear view on the big picture.
"Finding that community who are concerned about these things, it’s something I find comfort in," said the recent neuroscience graduate from the UCLA. "Freaking about the imminent apocalypse together is comforting."
