グレタさん、「史上最大」の気候変動デモに参加　アムステルダム

【アムステルダムＡＦＰ＝時事】スウェーデンの環境活動家グレタ・トゥンベリさんは１２日、オランダ・アムステルダムで行われた、気候変動の抑制を訴える「史上最大」のデモに参加した。同国の総選挙を１０日後に控える中、気候危機を政治課題に据えようと約７万人が参加した。（写真は、オランダ・アムステルダムで、気候変動抑制を訴えるデモに参加したスウェーデンの環境活動家グレタ・トゥンベリさん〈中央〉）
　デモは気候変動危機を訴える「絶滅への反逆や「フライデーズ・フォー・フューチャー（未来のための金曜日）」、国際ＮＧＯの「オックスファム」、「グリーンピース」などが主催。気候変動関連のデモとしては過去最大となったと主張している。
　トゥンベリさんは参加者を前に、「われわれは大惨事の寸前にいるのではなく、その中で生活している」と指摘。「気候危機の最前線に立たされている人々は、数十年にわたりその影響を直接体験し、警鐘も鳴らしてきた。しかし、われわれは耳を傾けてこなかった」と語った。
　デモ参加者がトゥンベリさんの演説を一時中断させる一幕もあった。
　Ｉ＆Ｏリサーチの世論調査によると、オランダでは気候変動は総選挙の争点になっていない。
　主催者は共同声明で「オランダが掲げている２０３０年までの気候変動目標の達成に向け残されているのはわずか６年であり、今回の選挙はこれまでになく重要なものとなる」と訴えた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/11/13-16:04）

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg joined tens of thousands in the biggest ever climate march through Amsterdam Sunday, aimed at pushing the climate crisis up the political agenda 10 days ahead of crunch national elections.
Carrying placards reading: Our house is on fire, In 2050: 'Daddy, what are trees?', and Climate Justice Now, demonstrators packed into Amsterdam's central square and set off through the streets.
Around 70,000 people took part, smashing previous records for such a march, said organisers, a coalition of pressure groups, including Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future, Oxfam, and Greenpeace.
We are not standing on the brink of a catastrophe, we are living in it, Thunberg told the crowd.
People on the front lines of the climate crisis have been experiencing the first-hand consequences of it for decades now and they have been sounding the alarm, but we have not been listening, she added.
Her speech was briefly interrupted by a protester, who said the demonstration was focusing too much on politics rather than the climate.
The atmosphere is amazing. I can feel the energy of a lot of young people who want to change the world, 19-year-old political science student Tijn Veenhoven told AFP.
I'm just angry because the world is angry and no one is doing anything about it, said physics student Ieke Snel, 18.
Polls show the Netherlands election is currently a dead heat between the centre-right VVD of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte and a new party, the NSC, led by anti-corruption champion Pieter Omtzigt.
A coalition of the Greens and the leftist PvdA is sitting in third place, according to the polls. This party is led by former European Commission heavyweight Frans Timmermans, the architect of the EU's Green Deal agenda.
Surveys show the key issues of the election campaign have been the ongoing housing crisis in the Netherlands, living standards, and immigration.
According to the most recent poll by I&O research, climate change came in fifth of the issues on voters' minds, behind housing, healthcare, immigration, and poverty.
Climate change is now considered less of a key topic than was the case at the last election in 2021, according to the I&O research poll.
With the crises continuing to stack up and a measly six years to achieve the Dutch climate goals in 2030, the upcoming elections are the most crucial ever, organisers said in a joint statement.