Italian minister urges pupils to skip class for global climate strike

Education minister from new coalition says schools should see absences as 'justified'

Young environmental activists in Italy are planning to miss school as thousands join climate crisis protests in major cities on Friday.

Some 475,000 people took part in the first global climate strike in Italy on 15 March and a similar number are expected to join the latest demonstrations in cities including Rome, Milan, Turin, Florence, Naples, Bologna and Bari. But only if they are allowed to skip school. Earlier this week the education minister, Lorenzo Fioramonti, urged schools to consider as "justified" the absence of children taking part in the mobilisation against the climate emergency.