From the ground, it was impossible to see all 500,000 of the people marching in Montreal on September 27 for the 2019 Global Climate Strike. But I got a visceral sense of the crowd’s size once climate activist Greta Thunberg appeared on the big screens along the march’s route. She was greeted with a roar that vibrated through my body and drowned out her first few words.

“Canada and [my home country of] Sweden have a lot in common,” she said moments later, squinting into the sun with a hint of a smile. “They both love hockey … And you’re a nation that is allegedly a climate leader. Sweden is also allegedly a climate leader.” She paused while the crowd cheered again, then landed her punch: “In both cases, it means absolutely nothing. Because in both cases, it’s just empty words.”

Time will tell if the Global Climate Strike helped to transform lip service into true leadership. At the very least, it revealed a wide cross-section of people who care. In Montreal, every demographic turned up, from infants pushed in strollers with protest signs taped onto the handles to seniors chanting about the future their grandkids deserve. Normally, the same streets are filled with many of the same people going about their business as though the planet’s health isn’t on their minds. Seeing wave after wave of protesters pass by, I wondered if most of us have just been worrying silently and separately, ready for something — or someone — to rally us.

Continue reading at Broadview Magazine.