Eight hundred students from over a dozen local schools in Dhaka's Rayerbazar have organized a climate action event.
The students presented a list of demands to the government to take strong action on climate, at the event titled “Stop Emissions Now” (SEN) held at Boishakhi playing field in Rayerbazar on Saturday, read a press release.
Their demands include: calling the climate crisis an emergency; pressuring high emitting countries to stop all new extraction of fossil fuels, and work towards rapidly ceasing all fossil fuel use; incorporating the climate crisis into school textbooks; and properly utilizing all funds for climate mitigation.
Students displayed a long banner with demands for action on the climate crisis, and signatures collected from schools in Rayerbazar, and from universities and other groups elsewhere in Bangladesh.
Speaking at the event, students said they could not wait any longer to address the climate emergency, and called on high emitting countries to rapidly scale back their fossil fuel use in order to reach zero fossil fuel use within the next few years.
Students also called on people to show the way to reduce emissions by walking and cycling more, and shifting back to natural products from industrial ones.
Manjur Hassan Dilu, from Stop Emissions Now (SEN) Bangladesh, said the event was organized to draw attention to the demands of Bangladeshis for strong climate action in order to prevent Bangladesh from being completely submerged under water by 2100.
Executive Director of the Institute of Wellbeing, Debra Efroymson said: “In the face of a global crisis, young people must speak up, and make their demands heard to the leaders of countries most responsible for the climate crisis.
