Tens of thousands protested in France on Saturday to call attention to the climate crisis as they approach the presidential election next month.
Look up and read the message in giant orange letters held up by demonstrators in Paris. They are urging politicians to make protecting the environment a priority.
The sign was a reference to Netflix’s Dont Look Up, where astronomers who discover that a comet would wipe out the Earth attempt to convince politicians to take it seriously. When will we talk about it? Another sign.
According to a survey by climate justice and NGOs, the climate crisis was only 1.5% of the talking points in media coverage over the election campaign period 28 February through 6 March.
Organisers claimed that 80,000 protestors took part in the demonstrations across the country, with 32,000 of them in Paris. However, the interior ministry said that only about 40,000 protestors participated in the event, and that 11,000 of them were in the capital.
Lydie Lampin Bernand, a northern Lille resident, described the climate crisis to be worse than critical. I am only 34 years of age, and even I have seen the planet shoved in the face with a shovel.
She said that we must protect the land and leave it to our children. However, politicians have not yet shown their willingness to tackle the challenge.
