RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Climate change activists are protesting President Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policies in 15 Brazilian cities.

In Rio de Janeiro, a small group of students gathered outside the state legislature to deliver a letter dated from the future in which they lamented Brazil's loss of coastline, rainforests and species.

"We, the Brazilians of the future, are also asking you: is there anything more important than protecting life and ensuring a quality future for the next generations? No, there is not," they wrote.

In other places, youth staged strikes and took to the streets to demand change.

Bolsonaro says excessive regulation has hindered economic development and has moved to strip the environment ministry's authority over water and forestry services.

His environment minister has called climate change a "secondary issue."