Students all over the world are leaving their classes and going on strike for climate action, fighting for a better future for all of us. They have a clear goal, demanding immediate action from policy makers to mitigate the worst effects of our climate crisis. I am documenting those protests in the Greater Vancouver area. Climate Change was one of the major issues discussed during the 2019 federal elections in Canada.
Young students take to the streets of Vancouver during a Fridays for Future protest. In October 2018, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report stating that global carbon emissions will have to be slashed over the next 12 years in order to stabilize the climate. Vancouver, May 2019
The term "Green New Deal", meaning a grand plan for tackling climate change, is seen here in one of the many signs carried by protesters. The urgency of this crisis is balanced by hope and optimism. Vancouver, May 2019
Protesters speak their minds with their signs. Andrew Scheer, who ran for the Conservatives during Canada's 2019 federal elections, avoided talking about his proposals for the environment as much as he could. Vancouver, September 2019
Dr. David Suzuki made an emotional speech at the Vancouver school strike for climate action. Dr. Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Vancouver, May 2019
At the end of the Trans Mountain pipeline protest near Science World, climate activists Ta'kaiya Blaney, Lorelei Williams, and Sii-am Hamilton, went on stage to sing and share personal stories with the crowd.
Vancouver, May 2019
Vancouver, May 2019
Minister Jonathan Wilkinson was invited by students to speak at a Fridays for Future protest, in his riding of North Vancouver. He was Canada's Minister of Fisheries and Oceans at the time. During a cabinet shuffle he was moved to the Environment and Climate Change portfolio. North Vancouver, May 2019
Cambie street taken by a protest in 2019, just before the last federal elections in Canada. Vancouver City Hall building, seen here in the background, is a gathering place for many of those protests. Vancouver, September 2019
Greta Thunberg joined forces with local environmental leaders, during a protest where thousands of people flooded the streets of downtown Vancouver. A crowd of roughly 10,000 people gathered at the Art Gallery plaza. Vancouver, October 2019
Extinction Rebellion blocked vehicle traffic for a whole day at the Burrard bridge in Vancouver. Extinction Rebellion is an international movement that uses non-violent civil disobedience as a tool to protest climate inaction. Vancouver, October 2019
A young girl holds a sign that tells what most of us know by now. This crisis has no precedence in history, and we all need to change long established habits to be part of the solution. Vancouver, May 2019
Former Green Party leader Elizabeth May poses for pictures with protesters outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, during a Fridays for Future rally. Not long after this protest, and after 13 years leading the Green Party of Canada, Ms. May stepped down. Vancouver, October 2019
Thousands of people got together to protest climate inaction last October, energized by the presence of Greta Thunberg and other local environmental leaders. Young protesters sing and wave banners in front of the Fairmont Hotel, in downtown Vancouver. Vancouver, October 2019
The movement Fridays for Future, started by Greta Thunberg in Sweden, is growing rapidly in many countries. Here students march with their home made signs in the streets of Vancouver. Messages of all kinds, urging our governments to take action on the climate crisis, are seen at every protest across the globe. Vancouver, May 2019
As climate patterns shift across the globe, many unique ecosystems are being damaged or destroyed by a multitude of climate related effects, like the bleaching of coral reefs, caused by sea acidification. Millions of species of plants and animals are now facing the risk of extinction within a matter of a few decades. North Vancouver, May 2019
Messages are left behind when the action is over. In Vancouver, more often than not, those messages are written in chalk on the Art Gallery plaza walls and sidewalks. Vancouver, May 2019
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