Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Actors and artists to join ‘world’s largest’ climate strike

The National Theatre on the South Bank of the River Thames in London (Justin Tallis/PA)
The National Theatre on the South Bank of the River Thames in London (Justin Tallis/PA)

Staff from galleries and venues including the National Theatre will take to the streets, joining children and students for what is being billed as the world’s largest climate strike.

Youngsters are taking part in more than 150 demonstrations from Cornwall to Scotland and are urging people to join them to push for action to transform the economy to zero carbon.

Staff from the Tate Modern, Tate Britain and Southbank Centre have also said they will walk out and join the Global Climate Strike in London on Friday.

Mark Rylance quits the RSC
Sir Mark Rylance (Ian West/PA)

Oscar-winner Sir Mark Rylance, Shameless star David Threlfall and Year Of The Rabbit’s Freddie Fox have called on the National Theatre to back the move.

Their petition has so far been signed by 72 staff.

Sir Mark is a vocal advocate for action against climate change. In June, he quit the Royal Shakespeare Company, objecting to its receipt of funding from oil company BP, which he has accused of obscuring its damaging environmental impact by supporting arts organisations.

Artists and actors will leave their workplaces at 10.30am and converge on Westminster Bridge where they will meet the striking cleaners from the Department of Business before marching on Central London.

School pupil campaign poll
Schoolchildren marching through Cambridge city centre during a climate change protest (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

National Theatre staff member Katherine Hearst said: “National Theatre staff will be staging a solidarity action with the climate strikers, to initiate a dialogue with management in which we will be demanding more agency in our workplace and a say in how the theatre can contribute to the climate movement.

“The insecurity of our contracts is a barrier to many of us participating in the climate movement in our workplace.

“This will be the beginning of a discussion in which we will push for our theatre to divest from big oil sponsorship and sign the Culture Declares Emergency declaration.”

Gareth Spencer, secretary of the Southbank Centre’s branch of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), said: “In May 2019, PCS Conference declared a ‘climate emergency’, following motions from the PCS Liverpool Museums Branch.

“The union is calling on all its members’ employers to declare climate emergency – a commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030, to refuse to accept fossil fuel sponsorship, to run green forums, and promote the role of Green Reps in the workplace.

“Our Tate branch’s demands were accepted by management there; PCS Southbank Centre and PCS British Museum branches have submitted similar demands.”

Worldwide, campaigners say there are more than 3,400 events planned in 120 countries, with numbers taking part expected to surpass the estimated 1.6 million people who took to the streets for a global climate strike in March.