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Climate strike: thousands take to streets in Switzerland

The Local Switzerland
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Climate strike: thousands take to streets in Switzerland
Swedish teenage activist Greta Thunberg, who has inspired the protests, in Davos in January. Photo: AFP

Students in around 30 Swiss cities are braving wintry conditions on Friday to take part in protests calling for politicians to take concrete action on climate change.

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The Swiss demonstrations are part of global protest action with people from 130 countries taking part in the so-called Fridays for Future movement, inspired by Swedish teenage activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greta Thunberg.

READ ALSO: The Local's interview with Greta Thunberg

In Switzerland, protesters are calling for the country to have a net zero domestic carbon footprint by 2030. Current government targets aim for these emissions to be at least 20 percent lower than 1990 levels by 2020.

Around 10,000 people took to the streets in Lausanne on Friday morning, according to police estimates.

Thousands also took to the streets in Bern and Zurich, with Swiss media reporting that plenty of adults had joined students in the demonstrations.

Protest organisers Klimastreik Schweiz claimed 10,000 people had taken part in the Bern action while they put the number at 12,000 in Zurich.

Other protests were also planned for cities including Geneva, Lugano, Basel and Chur.

Friday’s action are not the first time Swiss students have come out to protest climate change. Other demonstrations took place on January 18th and February 2nd.

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