September 20-27 was observed as the Global Climate Strike Week. It was marked by mass protests around the world demanding urgent action to save the planet. The strike was timed to coincide with the UN Climate Summit in New York. Several Indian cities too joined the strike.

On Friday afternoon, Delhi’s Connaught Place saw a demonstration by around three hundred students marching with placards and shouting slogans. “If you don’t act like adults, we will,” one placard declared. “Pollution my friend is blowing in the wind,” another reminded. “May the forest be with you,” read yet another.

Why had they turned out? 

A few students, aged 10 to 12, from Atal Adarsh Vidyalaya in Delhi said they had been a part of the Climate Strike movement for nearly a year. Although they had little idea about the ongoing global climate strike, they were clear that the planet needed saving from rapid climate change. They had been brought to the protest by Pratyek, one of the organisers. Pratyek is an NGO that works on child rights and “earth rights”.

There was also a group of middle schoolers from Ane Moriam School in Sangram, Arunachal Pradesh. They were on an excursion to the capital, the children said, but they had timed it so that they could take part in the march.

Aritra Roy, from the TERI School of Advanced Studies in Delhi, said she was most concerned about the harm caused by single-use plastic. She has been urging people not to use plastic in any form and instead opt for cloth bags and such. Pointing out that vehicular traffic was one of the major contributors to environmental pollution, she charged the government with doing little to reduce the use of private vehicles and promote clean public transport.

The march also attracted some college goers. They had learned about it through the Facebook page of Fridays for Future, a movement for climate action inspired by the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Since joining the movement, the students said, they have been promoting plastic recycling. They were at the protest to help spread the word about “climate emergency”, they said.

Aditya, a Class 11 student from Dynasty International School in Faridabad, promoted veganism and urged people to give up dairy products. He himself had adopted a vegan lifestyle two years ago, he said.

Harsh Gupta, a social activist connected with Fridays for Future, who helped organised the march said, “Here, we are trying to start a movement that talks about youth’s participation in politics, in policymaking.” 

Asked if the nascent climate action movement in India has had any success, he said after the previous march on September 20, the central “environment ministry considered our demands”. He, however, did not elaborate on what precisely the ministry’s response was. “We have also sent letters to the Prime Minister’s Office demanding that they declare a climate emergency,” Gupta added. 

Should climate action be an election issue in India? “There are some people inside Parliament who understand what we are doing and they are supporting us,” he responded. 

Gupta claimed that people are joining Fridays For Future as volunteers every day, and once the number is substantial they would be able to approach the environment ministry and put forward their demands more forcefully.