School children shout slogans during a strike and protest by students highlighting inadequate progress to address climate change in Sydney, Australia, on March 15, 2019. Picture: AFP/SAEED KHAN
Student protests were held in capitals and cities across Australia and New Zealand from Wellington to Melbourne and Sydney, drawing tens of thousands of people, with more planned through Europe, Asia and the US later on Friday. Elsewhere in Asia Pacific, around 60 students protested at Thailand's government house in Bangkok, holding cardboard signs to campaign against plastic. Thailand is one of the world's worst marine plastic polluters.
More than 100 students planned to gather in Seoul for a protest. In Singapore, where there are strict laws regulating public assembly, youths planned a virtual campaign on social media.