Demo is a call to step up and act on climate crisis

Environmental activists Extinction Rebellion placed the children’s shoes on Palace Green yesterday in a bid to ‘bring home the danger the next generation faces’.

The shoes had been donated by supporters from across the country and were displayed alongside the message – Climate Crisis: Give children a future. Act Now.

Similar demonstrations have been held across the UK, in a series of actions by Extinction Rebellion which culminate in the opening of Parliament on September 1 when activists hope those in power get their message.

Romey Chaffer, a local artist and grandmother, said: “The government was warned about the likelihood of a pandemic and did nothing to prepare.

“They have been told that the warming climate is reaching a critical tipping point, and again they are doing nothing to protect us and the next generation.

“Continuing a carbon-based economy is ruining our health and our environment.

“We have to change the system now to stop climate change.”

Nicholas Kasch, a materials scientist, said: “I remember the hint of fear I felt looking at rows of empty shelves in the supermarket a few months ago.

“Well, next time it could be for real, the predictions are that on an overheated world we will suffer crop failures on a global scale. We’ve got to take much more serious action to avoid that.”

Durham City’s Labour MP Mary Foy spoke at the event. She said: “The fact we are in a climate crisis doesn’t get mentioned enough and isn’t taken seriously enough in politics.

“Everything we do as a society should be focussed on improving the future, to make the world a better, fairer and safer place to live.

“We cannot do this unless we take the climate emergency seriously.”