A group of residents took to the streets in Vancouver on Monday, ahead of Earth Day, trying to draw attention to the problem of air pollution and changing climate.

The march and gathering to call for action on environment was organized by a particular group of young Vancouverites, who have become leaders in the movement against climate change and environmental destruction, and these youth are no longer waiting for politicians to be the ones who make the difference.

Matthew Yuen, co-organizer of the rally, is from Windermere Secondary School in Vancouver. "My motivation is to get people aware of all the environment issues, as not a lot of people know that global warming is going to hit soon and the temperature is going up really fast. Faster than before," he said.

In recent years, Windermere Secondary School has created a student movement called Youth For Climate Change Justice. It was these students from the school's grade 11 leadership class who arranged Monday's event, now in its fourth year, and joined by more and more people.

The students and their event have caught the attention of many locals, including famous Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, who said that seeing young people leading the battle against pollution, de-forestation and climate change gives him hope for the future of the country.

"When you get to be my age, what is done in politics has very little effect on my life as I'm pretty old then. But what is being done now will reverberate through the lives of these young people. They've got everything at stake," Suzuki told Xinhua at the event.

Suzuki is the founder of the Suzuki Elders, a group with members from around Canada who try to protect the environment from air and water pollution, logging and oil drilling.

Diana Ellis, the current chairwoman of the Suzuki Elders, said the students who arranged the event have become a major part in the local movement to protect the environment and raise awareness about climate change.

"They're providing really good analysis, really good leadership. I know the organization of such an event is not easy, so the fact that they're taking that on and doing it so well gives me actually a lot of hope for the future," said Ellis.

One of the brightest leaders in Vancouver's environmental movement is called Ta' Kaiya Blaney. The 13-years-old activist said she became passionate about defending the environment after learning about the history of her land from her native elders.

"Growing up with that respect for the land and that perception of how our environment was and that respect for my culture really helped me decide to speak up," Blaney told Xinhua.

Earth Day was founded in 1970 by American Senator Gaylord Nelson and is held every April 22 around the world to mark the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement.

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