Of course it’s for show. Half the population doesn’t think CC exists. They don’t think policy should change. They don’t want politicians (ie conservatives) to implement potentially painful measures like a carbon tax.

This is to let the other half know that shaming, ridiculing and shutting down discussion isn’t going to work anymore. This is to literally show that millions of people are making CC a priority.

Potentially most importantly - the scale of these protests demonstrates that this isn’t some fringe movement that’s relegated to a few university clubs. It’s a massive world wide issue, perhaps the issue of our time. When politicians see the size and scale of these protests - they might just be a little more hesitant to shit on the next climate initiative