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Hundreds march in downtown Phoenix for climate change protest

The Arizona Youth Climate Strike created a list of three demands for both the city of Phoenix and the state of Arizona.

A Facebook event page created by the group "AZ Youth Climate Strike" had nearly 400 people signed up to protest at the Arizona State Capitol Friday.

It's all part of the "Global Climate Strike," which is expected to take place in Europe, Africa and across the United States.

RELATED: A Global Climate Strike is happening Friday. Here's what it's all about

Hundreds of thousands of protesters, many of whom were children, kicked off the day of demonstrations in Australia. Smaller protests took place in Asia.

The protests are bringing awareness to climate change, more specifically, the demonstrations are an attempt to grab the attention of world leaders in order to get them to boost their efforts against climate change ahead of a U.N. summit in New York.

"It's easy to complain about problems. Everyone can complain about problems. You can write essays, you can do all of that stuff," high school sophomore Keerthana Kumar said. "But real change comes from going outside and physically doing things like strikes, protests and summits like these. So I believe we need to educate people and actually go out and do things."

According to the Associated Press, the protests are partly inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg. Thunberg has staged weekly demonstrations over the past year.

READ: Teen activist to lawmakers: Try harder on climate change

According to the Facebook event, the demonstration in Phoenix starts at 2 p.m. Friday and ends at 6 p.m. Those who are taking part will gather at the Maricopa Courthouse and march to the Arizona State Capitol where they are expected to protest from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

RELATED: Global Climate Strike begins with hundreds of thousands in protest

The Arizona Youth Climate Strike created a list of three demands for both the city of Phoenix and the state of Arizona.

"I believe that we have a beautiful earth and we're all lucky to be here," Kumar said. "But if we don't take care of it it's not going to be beautiful."

For Phoenix:

- Declare a Climate Emergency.

- Pass a new Climate Action Plan, including implementing more sustainable building codes, incentivizing renewable energy in the city, and continuing to build up public transportation in Phoenix.

- Create a climate plan to protect Phoenix residents from the effects of climate change, such as community cooling areas and increase tree cover to combat the Urban Heat Island.

For Arizona:

Declare a Climate Emergency

- Commit to a "fair and just" move to a 100% clean energy grid. "This means putting an end to the suppression of solar in the state and incentivizing clean energy developments," the group says. The state must also make sure fossil fuel workers have the training and support as they move to more green jobs, and a 100% clean energy grid with nuclear must be in place for Arizona by 2035. The group is also asking that clean energy grid be moved off of nuclear by 2050.

- Build climate resilient infrastructure and have a plan against the extreme results of climate change like heat, drought and wildfires.

"Fighting climate breakdown is about much more than emissions and scientific metrics – it’s about fighting for a just and sustainable world that works for all of us," the group wrote. "If we are going to fight for this, we need everyone."

There is also a Global Climate Strike taking place in Flagstaff Friday and another Arizona Youth Climate Strike in Tucson.

"I really want to make sure that I can help every single person on this planet including all those I love and myself to make sure that we have a liveable future for everyone," Kyle Kline, a environmental studies major at the University of Arizona, said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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