Look Back 2019: Youth in the lead as clamour for climate policies grows

The urgency of climate action was made clear this year both by scientific research and extreme weather events

Climate activists in Rome earlier this year with placards and a banner featuring 16-year-old Swedish Greta Thunberg, who says the world's leaders have failed to act decisively to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are heating up the planet and that yo
Climate activists in Rome earlier this year with placards and a banner featuring 16-year-old Swedish Greta Thunberg. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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The world woke up to the threat from climate change. Many people finally realised it is here and now, and that many governments are not taking it seriously enough. This is the year of climate anger.

Three things brought the escalating climate crisis to the fore: A series of deadly weather events, explosive growth of the global youth protest movement led by a Swedish teenager and a series of eye-opening United Nations climate reports.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 30, 2019, with the headline Youth in the lead as clamour for climate policies grows. Subscribe