Hundreds of people have marched across Sheffield city centre demanding climate justice and for governments and leaders around the globe to take the action that is needed to reverse the climate crisis.
Sheffielders walked down from Devonshire Green at about 1pm on Saturday 6th November across the city centre, culminating in a large gathering of people outside Sheffield City Hall where speeches and live performances took place.
Lucinda Wakefield, one of the event’s organisers from the Sheffield COP26 Coalition, on the steps of the City Hall, said: “It is all of us together and that is what has been so fantastic up and down the country.
“The world is at a tipping point. It is clear that time is running out. The clock is ticking. We have a planet to save and a world to win, and this is where it continues.”
The protest in Sheffield is one of over 300 protests taking place around the world on the ‘Day of Action’ while the COP26 climate summit currently takes place in Glasgow, where world leaders and negotiators have assembled to try and work out how best to tackle the climate emergency.
Hundreds of people of all ages and backgrounds turned out for the march, with numerous families and young children getting involved.
Paul Thornely, 49, assistant head teacher at Newfield secondary school, who came to the protest with his wife and three children, said: “I went into teaching because I want to get a better future for children. We run an Eco-committee at school and we have had a full run-up to COP on climate justice.”
The protest has seen the gathering of a range of organisations and campaign groups not just campaigning for action on climate change.
Environmental campaign groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Youth Strike 4 Climate and Friends of the Earth were joined by Sheffield Trades Union Council, Stand Up to Racism and the Chile Solidarity Group, among many more, campaigning on a range of issues.
Duncan Friend, 52, member of Friends of the Earth and who has been on a 10-year personal mission to reduce his annual carbon footprint to under two tons, said: “We are in a climate emergency and if we don’t do something in the next ten years, we are going to face run-away global warming.”
A number of students turned out for the protest, with University of Sheffield students meeting outside the Students’ Union concourse before heading to Devonshire Green to join the wider Sheffield Climate Justice Protest.
Amelia Smith, a final year Medical student at the University of Sheffield, said: “As healthcare professionals, it is our duty to protect those who are most vulnerable. We need to hold those responsible to account and fight for climate justice.
“We need to take action now. It feels like our last chance to make any change at all and I don’t trust the decision makers at COP26 to act fast enough and quickly enough.”
People unfurled banners, raised aloft their homemade signs and chanted in unison at the rally in Devonshire Green before the march into the city centre.
The Extinction Rebellion group organised a samba band, with performances made outside The Moor shopping centre and the Arundel Gate Interchange as the protest progressed across the city centre.
When the rally reached the heart of the city centre, hundreds gathered together as a number of speakers, including Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley, Louise Haigh, delivered speeches on the steps of Sheffield City Hall.
There were also musical performances from the Sheffield Voices for Action Mums’ Choir and calling for significantly greater action to be taken on the climate emergency.
Image credit: Nelson Walker
