MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Hundreds of thousands of students around the world came together to urge lawmakers to take action against climate change, and South Florida was no exception.
A large group of students gathered at Miami Beach City Hall in a show of solidarity, Friday.
7News cameras showed people holding signs with messages like “rise up for climate justice.”
Others were heard chanting and voicing their concerns.
The goal was to get hundreds of students out of school to bring awareness to the issue.
From Miami Beach to Fort Lauderdale, students made their voices heard in a very visible way.
“I hope that we can inspire both the people and the government to take action to stop the atrocity that’s occurring to our planet,” protester Ian Gill said.
Chiara Bruzzi, who organized the climate change protest at Miami Beach City Hall, said she hopes to bring awareness to the environmental issue with a sense of urgency.
“We need to do something to be able to survive in 12 years when there’s irreversible changes that are gonna happen,” Bruzzi said. “So, we’re here to strike that. We’re here to ask for policies to be made that are going to benefit the youth.”
Broward County students echoed that same sentiment.
“Our future is at risk,” Nicole Buckley said. “The IPCC report gives us 11 years to combat the climate crisis; otherwise it becomes inevitable. And if it becomes inevitable, there’s nothing that we can do.”
As part of Friday’s climate strike, students walked out of class, which organizers said is part of the plan to draw attention to the cause.
Both Miami-Dade and Broward County school districts said they won’t be excusing the absences.
Even with their absences unexcused , the students said coming out was worth it.
“I think it’s important to show the adults that we care,” Bruzzi said, “because if we care, then the adults are gonna have to care because we are the future of this world.”
“This isn’t something we should be fighting for as children, this is something that should’ve already been solved,” Buckley said.
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