BRUSSELS: Tens of thousands of teenagers in Belgium skipped school for the fourth week in a row on Thursday in an attempt to push authorities into providing better protection for the world’s climate.

Police say the march through Brussels drew at least 12,500 students, and another march in eastern Liege had at least as many protesters as the youth movement spread further across the country. In Leuven, close to Brussels, there were more than 3,000 protesters, including many primary school pupils.

The sustained success of the marches comes despite some school measures to dissuade students who continue to stay away every on Thursday. It started with a few thousand four weeks ago and swelled to 35,000 last week.

The protests have kept a focus on climate change as a political pressure point before national and European Union elections, after 70,000 demonstrators held a climate march through Brussels on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2019