‘Climate change is an urgent problem’

EUR students also took part in the climate march on Friday. The Erasmus Sustainability Hub and the Post Plastic Generation brought a large part of that group with them. “We want politicians and large corporations to take serious actions to tackle the climate crisis,” said student Agata Zur of the Sustainability Hub.

The EUR students brought protest placards with protest slogans like ‘How Dare You?’, ‘Planet over Profit’ and ‘March now or swim later’. “We made them this morning at the Hub,” regales Psychology student Daniela Monteiro.

Lively and determined

Last Friday, over 25.000 people came together at the Koekamp in The Hague for the climate protest. The national protest is a part of international climate actions, meant to increase pressure on the UN Climate Action Summit in New York. Dutch protesters are also demanding a ‘responsible climate policy’.

Monteiro calls the atmosphere at the Koekamp ‘lively’ and ‘determined’. “Even children and babies were marching along,” she says. The protesters went past the Dutch parliament at the Binnenhof and at the Koekamp speeches were given. There was also a DJ performance.

Important and urgent

The students felt that it was important to take part in the protest. “Climate change is an urgent problem. It doesn’t just influence our grandchildren’s generation; it also affects ours,” says Zur. “Politicians and people in large businesses seem unaware of the fact that the impact of climate change will be evident in the short term. And it’s going to be a disaster.”

“When it comes to sustainability, people tend to keep their point of view to themselves,” Zur claims. “But if there is one thing we definitely should be doing, it’s making our voices be heard.” The Management of International Social Challenges (MISOC) student believes that protesting is a tried and tested way to promote radical change. “And radical change is what we need. We don’t even have time to set goals, as we should already be attaining them.”

Check out the photos of the climate march here: