BERLIN (AP) — Environmental activists, many of them students taking time out from school, staged rallies around the world on Friday to demand that leaders take stronger action to curb climate change amid dire warnings of an increasingly hotter globe if nothing is done soon.

The issue has climbed the political agenda in many countries as scientists are warning that the world faces dangerous temperature rises unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut sharply in the coming years.

Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg planned to take part in a protest in Berlin, two days before the German election in which climate change has been a major topic.

The issue has also topped the agenda in Iceland, which heads to the polls for general elections on Saturday. All parties running for seats in the North Atlantic island nation’s parliament acknowledge global warming as a force of change in a sub-Arctic landscape, but disagree on how to respond to it.

Global climate protests were muted during the coronavirus pandemic due to restrictions on public gatherings, but with many countries relaxing rules again thousands are expected on the streets of Berlin, Milan and other large cities.