Area environmental groups to hold march, rally on Friday
12/6/2019, 6 a.m.
A coalition of Richmond area environmental groups will take part in a global climate strike on Friday, Dec. 6, with a 1 p.m. march from Monroe Park to the Capitol followed by a 2 p.m. gathering at the Bell Tower in Capitol Square to call for policy changes.
The event is aimed at raising awareness of the potential impact of global warming on life on Earth. It is a project of Richmond XR (Extinction Rebellion), Climate Strike VA, Sunrise Richmond, Richmond Citizens’ Climate Lobby and other like-minded groups.
The groups plan to urge Gov. Ralph S. Northam and the General Assembly to embrace policies that would reduce the impact of the state and its residents on the environment and the climate.
The Richmond event is one of many expected to take place Friday in cities around the world as part of the latest climate strike called by the Fridays for Future group that 15- year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg launched in August 2018.
The global action is to coincide with the 25th U.N. Climate Change Conference, called COP25, which began Monday in Madrid. At the two-week U.N. conference, world leaders and others are expected to discuss the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate — from which President Trump has said the United States would withdraw — and to generate more aggressive strategies to reduce carbon emissions within their nations.
