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Reuters
Reuters
Business

Fighting climate change, one quip at a time

Environmental activists participate in a Global Climate Strike near the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment office in Bangkok, Thailand September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

LONDON (Reuters) - For thousands of student protesters around the world, the fate of the planet is a serious business, but some couldn't resist a bit of fun to press home the point to judge from their placards.

"The planet is getting hotter than my imaginary boyfriend," read a poster held by a teenager in Thailand.

Another girl in Bangkok seemed to feel guilty about skipping classes to demonstrate. Her placard read: "I'm missing school for this (Better be worth it!)"

Young activists take part in an environmental demonstration, part of the Global Climate Strike, in Lodz, Poland September 20, 2019. Tomasz Stanczak/Agencja Gazeta via REUTERS

As protests spread to London, placards read: "Melt the 1% before they melt us", and "Act now or swim later," while in Vienna, two girls held up a card saying "Make love not Co2".

In Australia, messages included: "We'll go to school when the earth is cool" and "No beer on a dead planet".

Rising sea levels inspired a terse warning from a woman in Melbourne, whose sign read: "Learn to change or learn to swim."

People take part in a protest to call for action on climate change in Sydney, Australia, September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Cordelia Hsu

Raging wildfires meanwhile prompted a pithy message from another Melbourne woman, whose picture of a burning Australia was captioned: "We're cactus mate!"

A group of protesters in Sri Lanka made a stern point:"Politicians who ignore climate change are climate criminals". Its effect was slightly undermined by the fact that they were dressed as cuddly cartoon characters.

A woman holds up a sign as she takes part in a protest to call for action on climate change in Melbourne, Australia, September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Melanie Burton

(Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Youths walk with signs through the main road during a Global Climate Strike rally as smog covers the city due to the forest fires in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia, September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
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