Global climate strikes, environmental protests in August 2022

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Protests and strikes against environmental degradation continued across the globe in August, with demonstrators demanding decisive action to tackle climate change.

Activists and netizens continued street protests and online campaigns. Events included Fridays for Future's weekly protests and anti-government protests for failing climate policies.

Below is a timeline of protests and demonstrations compiled by Anadolu Agency:

Aug. 1:

- Environmental activists from the Extinction Rebellion group begin a "tunnel occupation" in Surrey, England where Exxon Mobil's fuel pipeline work is underway.

Aug. 2:

- Indian climate activist Licypriya Kangujam, in an interview with Anadolu Agency, urges world leaders to take concrete steps. "We want clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, clean planet to live on, basic rights for all of us,” she says.

Aug. 3:

- A group of environmentalists hold demonstrations and carry banners outside the Japanese Embassy in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, protesting Tokyo's fossil fuel-related activities.

Aug. 5:

- On her 122nd week of a weekly strike, 15-year-old Iraqi climate activist Farah Mahmoud demands more ambitious actions for the upcoming COP27, sharing her picture on Twitter with a banner that read: "There is no planet B.”

- Climate activists and environmental protesters continue to raise awareness about climate change during the first Fridays for Future strike of the month with nonprofit groups supporting the efforts.

Aug. 6:

- Recalling that the EU pays billions of dollars for fossil fuels to Russia, Ukrainian climate activist Ilyess al-Kortbi demands ending the use of fossil fuels. "We need people not for profit," he says on Twitter.

Aug. 9:

- Indigenous people and advocates hold a protest to commemorate International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon City, Philippines, drawing attention to the rights of Indigenous people.

Aug. 12:

- Extinction Rebellion releases a newsletter pointing out worldwide mobilizing to stop the Congo peatland oil auctions and Maasai evictions in Tanzania.

- On the second Fridays for Future strike in August, climate activists and environmental protesters continue to raise awareness about climate change and environmental issues.

Aug. 13:

- Extinction Rebellion members stage a "blockage" protest on the Kohlbrand Bridge in Germany to raise awareness about "climate justice".

Aug. 14:

- Climate and environment activists in Ibiza, Spain protest pollution that harms the environment caused by cruise tourism.

Aug. 16:

- French climate activists fill golf course holes with cement to protest water shortages in Toulouse.

Aug. 17:

- Swedish activists block a road between Sveavagen and Kungsgatan in central Stockholm; 12 campaigners are arrested on suspicion of sabotage.

- Italian scientists write an open letter demanding politicians put the climate crisis at the top of their agendas in the upcoming general elections.

Aug. 19:

- Activists from several climate groups and concerned citizens hold a demonstration in Mallorca, Spain to protest the profits of oil companies, while holding banners and citing heatwaves.

- Fridays for Future holds a third strike of the month, with climate activists and environmental protesters raising awareness about climate change and environmental issues.

Aug. 21:

- A group of people in Poland hold a rally on Vistula boulevard to protest an ecological disaster in the Oder River when it is discovered that the river contaminated at least 135 tons of fish that washed up dead on its shores.

Aug. 22:

- The Debt for Climate group urges activists around to world to join a campaign to tackle "financial colonialism" from the IMF and World Bank Group summit through COP27.

Aug. 24:

- Several Dairi residents of Indonesia's North Sumatra stage a demonstration in front of the Chinese Embassy in the capital, Jakarta, protesting mining projects on their lands that could endanger the environment and the lives of surrounding residents.

Aug. 26:

- Fridays for Future holds the last strike of August, with climate activists and environmental protesters raising awareness about climate change and environmental issues.

Aug. 29:

- Citing a report with sobering statistics of forest fires in the Amazon rainforest, Greenpeace says Europe shares the responsibility for the destruction by buying products from deforested lands and calls to end this trade.