Youth protesters plan Black Friday climate strike

Cities across the U.S. will see coinciding climate strikes Black Friday with youth protesters aiming to bring attention to climate action.

The protests, organized by nine youth climate activist groups, will take place in cities including Chicago, Sacramento, Calif., and Colorado Springs, Colo.

The rallies are the latest in an ongoing series of organized national strikes demanding climate action from U.S. leaders. 

Groups organizing the strike include the Sunrise Foundation and Extinction Rebellion Youth, both groups have recently staged sit-ins in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) Washington, D.C., office to demand more be done on climate change.

The aim of Friday’s protests is to turn America’s attention away from the traditional shopping deals and towards an imperiled planet.

“On a day typically reserved for deals and shopping, youth in America will boycott this trend and call for a change to business-as-usual to confront the climate crisis,” the groups said in a statement.

The organized coinciding youth strikes come a week before world leaders are expected to gather in Spain for COP25, an international conference where leaders are intended to discuss how to prevent the looming impact of climate change. That meeting is expected to draw international demonstrations.