Researchers back “Fridays for Future” protests, global school strike planned for Friday

Students are expected to walk out of school in more than 1,000 cities around the world on Friday, as part of a global strike to demand action on climate change, dpa reports in an article carried by Focus Online. The school strike is expected to be the largest demonstration organized to date by the “Fridays for Future” student movement. In Germany alone, organizers expect 140 protests - more than in any other country, dpa reports. A group of researchers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have come out in support of the protests. On Tuesday, the group “Scientists for Future” announced that they have gathered more than 12,000 signatures from scientists and researchers across the German-speaking world for a petition backing the student protesters. "The aim of the initiative is to send a clear signal that the protests of young people are fully justified,” said Maja Göpel, one of the petition’s organizers, Tagesspiegel reports. The petition comes in part as a response to public figures who have questioned whether students should be allowed to skip school to protest, or understand the issues well enough.