BRUSSELS (AP) — Thousands of teenagers in Belgium have skipped school for the fourth week in a row in an attempt to push authorities into providing better protection for the world's climate.

Police say the march through Brussels drew at least 12,500 students, and other protests were held in smaller cities in Belgium.

The sustained success of the marches comes despite some school measures to dissuade students who continue to stay away every Thursday.

And it kept a focus on climate change as a political pressure point before national and European Union elections, after 70,000 demonstrators held a climate march through Brussels on Sunday.

On top of the student march itself, about 3,400 academics also published an open letter in support of the grassroots movement.