Climate Strike Exeter

A few weeks ago in our Sunday worship Martin Nicholls spoke to us about the climate emergency facing our planet and how we can respond as Christians. I was moved by the picture of Martin’s daughter Jess standing alongside the inspirational Swedish teenager and environmental activist, Greta Thunberg. As a lifelong environmentalist I feel humbled that the people to really turn up the volume on the issue have mostly been still at school.
On Friday 20 September I joined the Fridays for Future Climate Strike in Exeter. At time of writing estimates varied but between 3500-5000 people all marched from Bedford Square to County Hall, bringing our county town to a standstill.

What struck me was the huge variety of people in the crowd; young and old stood shoulder to shoulder, professionals taking time away from the office next to creatively attired green activists, people in sportsgear wheeled their bikes alongside others being pushed in wheelchairs. Why such diversity? Because this is not an issue affecting one group of people alone. It is the issue for our time. At Glenorchy we have already made a difference through our commitment to the eco-church scheme. Where next will our green journey take this congregation?

Katie Snook

Jess Nichols first met Greta Thunberg in April in London when Jess was on her way to Brussels with other young activists from the UK to meet the EU for discussions on climate change. They met again at a summit in Lausanne on the “Fridays for Future” movement (picture: Jess on the left)

Jess first got involved with the movement in January, inspired by Greta’s speech at Davos and quickly joined others in Exeter in helping to organise the first school strike here in February. She soon became a leader in the growing campaign and found herself dealing with both local and national media. A remarkable achievement for someone who, like Greta herself, has Asperger’s Syndrome. In September Jess gave an address at Exeter Cathedral : https://www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/news-events/latest-news/. She was very involved in planning the Exeter Climate Strike described opposite by Katie, and has also worked with her young colleagues to produce this very impressive document:
https://exeterobserver.org/pdfs/Exeter_Fridays_for_Future_Green_New_Deal_for_Devon.pdf Green New Deal is addressed to Devon County Council, but deserves a much wider audience.

Sheila Brain