Anna Jones
Singapore

The rallies across Australia are still going strong, but the BBC team in Sydney is now handing control over to London. In Singapore, we're keeping across events in Asia - there's more to come from our colleagues in Delhi too. Later today, the BBC's environment correspondent will be on hand to answer your questions about climate change.

Keep a window open on your desktop today, or if you're on the BBC News app, you can add climate change as a topic, to follow all our coverage on the issue.

Image source, Jed Finnane

Protesters in Australia have gushed about how energetic, motivated and unified they felt in taking part. At the Sydney gathering, people sang, played drums and trumpets, and a big 'Earth' ball bounced around the crowd.

Architecture student Jed Finnane, 23, described it as "wonderful - almost like one big party".

"It felt overwhelming, that kind of energy and power that was bubbling up. And when the kid were speaking about climate change, it was just really terrifying. I was shaking with emotion. We were just full of passion."

Image source, EPA

He and his friends marched from the universities into the city centre and said the crowd swelled as people spontaneously joined in.

"We'd say to people who were standing on the side, filming on their phones: 'hey come stop working, come join us' and they did! We had people coming off construction sites, people in suits, tourists. We were all just one big power force heading towards the city."

In a statement, police praised the demonstrators' behaviour - and said no-one had been arrested.

Frances Mao
BBC News, Sydney

Thank you for reading our live page so far. But you'll also very likely be across things if you have a quick glance at your social feeds - I know Instagram feeds here in Australia are chockers with pictures and video of the gatherings.

On Twitter, #ClimateStrike is the top trend worldwide.

You could have a squiz at Facebook, but one 15-year-old told me this morning that "no-one at school even has that these days". Check out TikTok if you want to follow the youth - the #climate hashtag there has more than 60 million views. (And the memes are pretty funny.)

Perhaps worth a follow. After all, social media has been the key tool used by these school students to organise their protests.

Tessa Wong
BBC News, Singapore

Locals in the Indonesian region of Kalimantan have been breathing in hazardous air caused by forest fires, and these students have had enough. A BBC News Indonesian team have been in the region - on Borneo island - this week and filmed the students shouting “Kalimantan is on fire, Kalimantan is suffering” as they marched through the town of Palangkaraya.

Anna Jones
Singapore

If you're just getting up to speed over in Europe, welcome to our live coverage of today's global climate strike. This youth-led movement is encouraging people to take the day off school or work, and join protests calling on their governments to take urgent action to curb emissions, stop the burning of fossil fuels and deal with the impact of climate change.

We've already seen tens of thousands of people on the streets in Australia, and small protests in several Asian countries, including the island nations of the Pacific. BBC teams in the UK will soon take over to pick up all the events happening across Europe, and we'll keep going until the sun sets on the west coast of the US.

Watchiranont Thongtep
BBC News Thai, Bangkok

It was hot and humid this morning in Bangkok, but the sweltering heat didn’t stop some 150 people taking part in the climate strike.

The group, mostly young people, marched for two hours to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment where they handed over a letter urging the government to declare a climate emergency and commit to a complete phase-out of coal.

Protesters held colourful placards and chanted "What do we want? Climate justice. When do we want it? Now!".

"Thailand is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world, with effects already visible every day in recent extreme flooding and droughts, and potential water and food scarcity," said Nanticha Ocharoenchai, organiser of Climate Strike Thailand.

Image source, EPA

Heather Chen
Singapore

Strong words from 12-year-old Ralyn Satidtanasarn (her peers call her Lilly). This young Thai activist is on a personal mission to clean up pollution in her country.

"I am a kid at war," she told the AFP news agency this week, as she picked up cans, plastic bags and bottles bobbing in a river canal. "I try to stay optimistic but I am also angry."

In June, Lilly won her first victory by persuading a major supermarket in Bangkok to stop giving out plastic bags in its stores once a week.

She says she was inspired by Greta Thunberg.

"Greta gave me confidence and my place is here, the fight is also in South East Asia," she says.

Image source, AFP

Heather Chen
BBC News, Singapore

Climate emissions and the burning of fossil fuels lie at the heart of the ongoing global movement but let's not forget plastic pollution, a huge problem faced by many nations in South East Asia.

Malaysia is one of the world's biggest plastic importers, taking in rubbish that the rest of the world doesn't want. Earlier this year we went to one small town which was being smothered in 17,000 tonnes of waste. Illegal dumping continues to be a hazardous problem in the country.

Animals have also suffered. Over the past year, plastic waste irresponsibly disposed of at sea has claimed the lives of whales in the Philippines and even a beloved baby dugong in Thailand.

Image source, AFP

Jay Savage
BBC News Online Australia Editor

It's tough to estimate how many protesters have been on the streets here in Sydney, but local media is reporting tens of thousands. Similar numbers are being quoted for Melbourne's massive event.

Huge crowds have also featured in many of the other 110 locations around Australia which officially registered demonstrations on Friday.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Andreas Illmer
Singapore

Image source, Reuters

While there might be fewer protests happening from Asia, the continent is by no means lagging behind when it comes to to CO2 emissions.

China was ranked first and India and Japan third and fifth among the globe’s worst polluters, that's according to the Global Carbon Project, external and their latest data from 2017.

The ranking only reflects the absolute figures though. If broken down to emissions per person living in the country, then Japan is number 30 in the world, China is 41st and India comes in at number 71.

Jonathan Head
BBC South East Asia Correspondent

Climate change is expected to have a profound impact on much of South East Asia. Cities like Jakarta and Bangkok will be flooded, and perhaps uninhabitable. Extreme climate could badly affect food security. Other areas, like the Mekong Delta, are already suffering from the advancing sea.

But environmental awareness remains a largely middle-class concern, and the middle class is relatively small. It was noticeable how many in the small climate strike march in central Bangkok were foreign residents, not Thais. Some issues are getting wider public interest; publicity over the damage to marine life caused by waste plastic has now prompted action by government and retailers to curb single-use plastics.

But most South East Asian countries today have poor law enforcement and powerful business interests. Holding those businesses to account is difficult and sometimes dangerous. Environmental activists are sometimes killed, the perpetrators rarely brought to justice.

For 30 years this region has pursued export-led economic growth as its top priority, and the main source of legitimacy for its governments. That growth has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, but has also led to greater economic inequality and massive environmental degradation. It is proving hard to change that model.

Image source, AFP

Frances Mao
Sydney

But it's not all doom and gloom. Older generations are fighting for the younger ones too.

Australian woman Rosemary Gosper, 32, sent me this picture of her family who all trooped out to the strike in her home city, a bit north of Sydney.

"This is Newcastle, Australia, where I'm marching with three generations of women in my family - my mum, my sister and my nieces.

"I was so proud to be there with them. It's their future and we want to keep the world habitable for them."

One thing that's been noted in the Australia protests is the sheer diversity of those who have turned out - retirees, young parents pushing prams, school children in their uniforms, church groups, sporting teams, the list goes on. Climate change affects us all.

Image source, Rosemary Gosper

Young protesters have brought reserves of defiance and hope to these protests - but there is plenty of anger and sadness too.

High school student Juliet, 18, told our correspondent Phil Mercer at Sydney's demonstration: "I don’t feel like I can have kids. Because it’s too cruel to bring them into a world that’s dying and I think that the fact that that’s what our politicians are putting us through and that so many young people I talk to have that mentality, it’s really sad."

Image source, AF

Our South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head is in the Thai capital Bangkok and has shared this video of the climate strike action unfolding on the streets. A lot of students have turned up in support, he tweets.

Andreas Illmer
Singapore

The Friday for Climate protests have always been biggest in Australia, Europe and the US, but events will be taking place across Asia today as well.

Demonstrations are already taking place in Bangkok and later in the day protests are planned in Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Myanmar. Many of these events will be on a much smaller scale than what we're seeing in Australia right now though, and a few other countries like Singapore or South Korea have protests planned only on the weekend.

In Hong Kong, students have cancelled their participation because of the ongoing pro-democracy demonstrations, but three climate activist groups are still staging a small protest on Friday.

As our correspondent Karishma Vaswani says, Indonesia has – just like other countries in the region – seen an explosion of plastic use over the past decades. Forget about statistics, just have a look at some of the country’s beaches to see the consequences of that. If you’re expecting a pristine tropical paradise, you might be in for a surprise…

Karishma Vaswani
Asia business correspondent

Growing up in Jakarta in the 90s, we took our blue skies and clean seas for granted. The signs were already there that pollution from cars and motorcycles and rubbish in the rivers would soon damage the ecosystem, but no-one was paying enough attention - not least a government intent on turning Indonesia into a fast-growing economy.

As the middle class grew, so did the use of plastic. In particular single-use plastic. Anyone who's been to Indonesia will know what I mean when you have to convince the chap who packs your groceries that you don't need a plastic bag for your one bar of chocolate.

Things are changing. Too slowly perhaps, but they are. That's largely because of initiatives led by the younger generation of politicians and consumers who are acutely aware of the dangers Indonesia faces from climate change. Surrounded by water, with millions living on coastlines, there are very real consequences of not trying to fix things.

Image source, AFP

Jay Savage
BBC News Online Australia Editor

We're heading into late afternoon across the Pacific, where protests have been taking place in small island nations including Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and the French territory of New Caledonia. These are countries facing the very real risk of being swamped by rising seas as the climate warms.

Images and video clips being posted online show people in different locations chanting "we are not drowning - we are fighting", or variations of the same message.

And if you're wondering what's happening in New Zealand - its strikes will not take place until next Friday.

Frances Mao
Sydney

Back to Australia now, where the ravages of climate change can be seen very clearly at the Great Barrier Reef - one of the world's most diverse ecosystems.

Half of the reef's coral is dead and the system is struggling to grow new ones, scientists say.

Warming waters pose the greatest threat. Three years ago, they caused "mass bleaching events" which not only "cooked" the coral, but also destroyed habitats for other sea life.

• Australia downgrades Great Barrier Reef outlook to "very poor"
• Can science and tourism save the reef?

The UN classified the reef as a World Heritage site in 1981 for its "enormous scientific and intrinsic importance", but is now considering adding it their list of sites which are "in danger".

Andreas Illmer
Singapore

If South East Asia needed a reminder that environmental damage is real, the region is currently experiencing its worst "haze" in years. What's the haze? It's thick, yellow, burnt air - terribly unhealthy - that comes from illegal fires.

Looking out from the window of our BBC office in Singapore, today's sky looks clear enough, but for most of the past week it's been barely visible. Just have a look at this shot of the towers of the Marina Bay Sands hotel just two days ago.

Image source, AFP

The Singapore F1 takes place this weekend, so we've been taking a look at how much the haze could affect that major tourism event.

Things are much worse in neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia, though, where schools are closed and serious health warnings are being issued.

This is what the air looks like in Palangkaraya in Kalimantan, Indonesia's part of Borneo, this week.This dense brown air is the result of the largescale burning of forests and peatland for farming.

Millions of people are living with air frequently measured as hazardous to health. Palm oil and paper production have brought much-needed income to many poorer areas of South East Asia, but many people are starting to ask whether this is an acceptable pay-off.