Bodies littered the floors of Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery as people turned out in their dozens to protest the lack of political action against the ever-growing threat of climate change.
Activists from Liverpool Youth Strike for Climate (LYS4C) staged the die-in protest on Saturday, September 17, ahead of the Global Climate Strike that will take place on Friday. The group, a collective made up mainly of school and university students, were supported by adults from Extinction Rebellion Wirral and health professionals from Medact.
Amy Reeves, 18, who took part in the protest, said: “I have been going to museums with school as a child; like kids in Liverpool for generations. As a young person, I wish museums would do more to highlight the climate crisis we face as a generation. People my age did least to cause climate change but will be the most affected. We expect adults to take on their responsibilities and the museums to start acting on their declaration of climate emergency.”
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National Museums Liverpool, which oversees the Walker Art Gallery, declared a climate and ecological emergency in 2019 and promised to publish a plan within 12 months which outlined a clear strategy to reduce its carbon footprint and prioritise environmental concerns.
But LYS4C said it had seen 'very little evidence this declaration is acted upon' - and that it hoped the protest would inspire inspire National Museums Liverpool bosses to commit to educating the public on climate change.
Laurie Kay, 15, said: “Apart from a short temporary exhibition at World Museum around the time of COP26, the Liverpool museums are not fulfilling their public responsibility to inform and educate the public about the urgency of acting on the issue of climate change. Communities in the UK and the world are already being affected. We want to see more exhibitions, programmes and events related to the climate emergency in our museums and galleries”.
Annette Ros, a doctor supporting the protest, said: “As a doctor, I am very concerned about climate change and the impact on our environment but also the health of people and our health services. We fully support young people taking action to highlight the climate emergency as people just don't seem to be listening, and they certainly aren't taking the action we need to avert a crisis.”
Activists will stage another protest on Friday, September 23, as part of the Global Youth Climate Strike, a youth-led strike started in 2018 by environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
Protesters will gather at St George's Hall at 1pm before marching to St Luke’s Bombed Out Church.
Laurie said: “We cannot wait any longer to have our voices heard and need to revive our movement that took a step back during Covid-19."
National Museums Liverpool was approached for comment.
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