Sunday afternoon saw around 500 people attend the demonstration
Translated by Thomas Ansell
On Sunday afternoon around 500 people attended a protest organised by the climate coalition Fryslân at the Oldehove in Leeuwarden. With similar protests occurring across the North (and entire country), the Oldehoofsterkerkhof filled with socially-distanced activists leading up to the 15:00 official start.
As reported by the Omrop Fryslân, the face-masked attendees listened to addresses from among others Professor Theunis Piersma, who said: “we really must change. We’re looking at having the summer of 2020 as the coolest in the coming 100 years.”
Durk Kuiken, of the climate coalition Friesland said that the day was “a lovely contrast to Friday. The FvD brought together lots of people that don’t believe in climate change. Today, though, you can see that Friesland is also home to significant numbers of people concerned about the climate.”
A Friday for Future group appealed for people to think of the climate in the Dutch general elections that begin today. However the organisers of the protest remained neutral: “we’re not giving voting advice. The people here know very well already which parties are worth their vote regarding climate change”, said Kuiken.
Aside from the speeches, there were also musical contributions from local artists Nynke Laverman, and the duo of Syb van der Ploeg and Piter Wilkens.
