YOUNG people have gathered in protests across Scotland to call for urgent action to avoid further “disastrous” impacts of climate change.

Marches took place in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Ullapool, East Kilbride, Forres, and St Andrews, among others around the world, to mark the return of the “Fridays for Future” climate strikes first organised by Greta Thunberg.

The National:

In Glasgow, one activist giving a speech was Lauren MacDonald, from Govanhill, who caused a stir after confronting First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last month over the controversial Cambo oil field off the west coast of Shetland.

She told the PA news agency she became heavily involved in climate activism because she does not want her loved ones to endure famines, droughts, heatwaves, fires and floods.

The 21-year-old said: “I don’t believe anyone is going to do this for us, for our future. The world seems to get messed up beyond repair every day.

“We need to rise up and fight this existential threat because if we don’t, humanity will collapse, it’s as serious as that.”

The National:

Elsewhere, Ross Greer, the West Scotland Green MSP, told crowds “this is a fight between capitalism and the planet”.

He said: “We are going to stop that oil field, we are going to fight Cambo in parliament, we are going to fight against Cambo in the courts, and we are going to fight against Cambo in the streets.”

Greer said: “Our climate cannot cope with the millions of extra barrels that it would extract. We are going to be judged for centuries as a species on the actions we take this decade.

“We need to know what we’re fighting against, and it’s capitalism. This is a fight between people and profit. The same tiny number of people destroying our planet are holding millions of others in poverty so they can hoard unimaginable amounts of wealth.”

The National:

Emily Hird, who is studying a PhD in renewable energy at Strathclyde University, said: “While we might be doing well, we’re still not doing enough, we still have so far to go.

“It’s not looking great but it doesn’t have to look utterly apocalyptic. We have to fight for the last home we have.”

The National:

Sandy Boyd, one of the organisers of the Edinburgh protest, believes neither the Scottish government nor the UK government are treating climate change "like an emergency".

"We recognise the issue of climate change is a systemic problem which needs to be addressed," he told BBC Scotland.

"Missing school is making a statement that we are disrupting the system, we are rejecting the system. By striking we are saying 'the system is broken and we need to find a better way of doing things'."

The National:

Fridays For Future Scotland, which organised some of the marches, warned online of “disastrous” impacts on the climate if change is not forthcoming.

They went on: “We must stand more united than ever to emphasize the present, ongoing nature of the climate crisis, and clamor for immediate, just, and concrete action steps from our world leaders.

“The current way of things has systematically marginalized billions of people around the world. With our call to #UprootTheSystem, we seek to address ecological and social crises at their roots.”

The National:

Green MSP Greer later added: "The climate strikers' demands are crystal clear. They want an urgent move away from fossil fuels, new jobs in green industries and justice for communities already being devastated by climate breakdown across the Global South. Those are big demands but they are absolutely essential if we're to get this crisis under control.

"For every one foot our movement has in government, we need a thousand more out on the streets calling for bigger, quicker action. The lives of today's young people will be defined by the climate crisis, so they have every right to raise hell until world governments are not only listening but acting.”