Several climate demonstrations across Belgium
The climate protests around Belgium have been going on for four weeks now. The last one, on Thursday February 8th, proved to be quite successful.
The march in Leuven, which was the main gathering, attracted 10,000 young people. Protests happened in several places in Belgium: Antwerp, Kortrijk and Hasselt.
600 protesters gathered in Antwerp according to police estimates. 1,000 in Kortrik and more than 500 in Hasselt.
In Antwerp, the young people marched from the Operaplein to the Groenplaats. They aimed to show that they are ready to take concrete efforts to counter global warming.
One of the students, Warre Germis, claimed that even though they themselves are showing initiative, environmentally-friendly options such as commuting by train as opposed to taking the plane and vegetarian dishes seem to be more expensive. “We have to do more, and it must come from politics” concluded Warre Germis.
The 1,000 young people in Kortrijk marched around the city during the morning and took a stop at the communal house. The crowd dispersed around 10:30 when the students returned to class.
In Hasselt, the students were from 500 to 600 in numbers. It was a significant turnout. The gathering started at the Grote Markt at around 14:00.