Czech Republic prepares to join the Global Climate Strike: here's how to participate

Global Climate Strike events are planned to coincide with the United Nations Climate Action Summit, held on September 23 in New York when political leaders from around the world will present their national plans to achieve the commitments laid out under the Paris Agreement.

Michaela Pixová, coordinator of the Climate Coalition, says: “The purpose of the Week for Climate is to point out that we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions more quickly.” She adds: “Without political action and systemic measures, society cannot manage climate change.”

Lucie Smolková, a student from the Prague chapter of Fridays For Future, a movement sparked by Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg’s weekly Friday protests, says: “Safety, conditions for human life on earth, a healthy landscape, our future, and our climate, are themes for everyone…because all of us will sooner or later be affected by water scarcity, polluted air, expensive food, intolerable summer heat. Society must work together to address this vital issue.”

The green wave has been more of a green trickle for the Czech Republic. Premier Andrej Babiš sided with his Polish and Hungarian counterparts in June to block a European Council attempt to lock in a net zero emissions target by 2050. The Czech Green Party was obliterated in recent European elections that saw Greens in many other EU countries gain record wins at the polls. In the 2019 European election, the Czech Pirate Party joined the Greens–European Free Alliance parliamentary group and won three MEP seats.

Founded in April 2019 by the Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25), the Green New Deal for Europe (GNDE) campaign aims to mobilize European scientists, unions, parties, and policymakers for a swift transition to a sustainable Europe. According to Louise Kelleher, Czech Coordinator for GNDE, which will be present at Friday’s protests, the environmental challenges faced by the Czech Republic are hard to ignore.

“We can see the forests are dying. We know every third child in Ostrava has asthma because of air pollution. A more insidious threat is the climate scepticism that’s normalized in the media. If we can empower Czech communities to decide for themselves what their green transition will look like, it’s a win for all of us.”