There was a global climate strike for justice on Friday in an effort to get people to 'Think Globally, Act Locally' ahead of the 25th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 25) happening in Madrid, Spain from Dec. 2 to 13, 2019.
The worldwide climate strikes have been ongoing since 2018, inspired by young Swedish environmental activist, Greta Thunberg and her Fridays for Future campaign, that calls upon the government for action on climate change.
On Friday, Toronto held their strike at Queen's Park, with other nearby communities like Newmarket and Aurora organizing their own demonstrations.
Bradford resident, Mike Walsh, said he had planned to go to Queen's Park, but decided against it after considering the carbon footprint associated with the trip, and ended up at the Newmarket rally instead.
"What better way to think global and act local than to attend a locally hosted global climate strike?" he said.
Walsh is passionate about global climate issues and participates in the strikes as a way to bring more attention to them.
"I believe that our planet is in a state of emergency and that we, globally, need to implement drastic changes before it's too late."
He believes all current political issues hinge on the state of the earth's environment.
"It's not like there's a Planet B we could take refuge on," he explained.
The Newmarket strike started at 10 a.m. in front of Cynthia's Place on Yonge Street, then demonstrated outside Yonge Street and Mulock Drive until 12:30 p.m. after which they marched to the municipal offices on Mulock Drive and demonstrated there until the strike's end at 2 p.m.
"It was a pretty good day," said Walsh, noting the group had received plenty of honks from vehicles in support of their rally. "And we had pedestrians walk up and tell us that they believe in what we're fighting for."
"At the municipal offices, the mayor (of Newmarket) welcomed us and gave us some motivating words. He pointed out that that this is indeed a global issue," he said.
To learn more about the Fridays For Futures Newmarket-Aurora group, check out their Facebook page here.
