Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Thousands of school students, teachers and climate advocates gathered at cities across New Zealand today to kickstart the global Strike 4 Climate action day.

More than 3000 students packed into Aotea Square in New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, in a vibrant display of enthusiasm in their call for urgent and real change by politicians.

Brightly coloured placards proclaimed “Stop global warming”, “Stop destroying – start caring”, “I would be at school if the Earth was cool” and “Our planet is dying and all you can think about is truancy” as the students called for action, not talk, by governments.

READ MORE: Climate stories

In the capital Wellington, at least 2000 spirited students and their supporters descended on Parliament, reports RNZ Pacific.

The lawn in front of the Beehive was packed with young protesters this morning and chants like, “No more coal, no more oil, keep your carbon in the soil” surely reached the politicians inside.

A cool message from Auckland school climate protesters today. Image: David Robie/PMC Global warming placard by the Auckland Town Hall today. Image: David Robie/PMC “Stop destroying” the planet placard in Auckland’s Aotea Square today. Image: David Robie/PMC Climate protesting students gather outside Auckland’s Town Hall today. Image: David Robie/PMC

By Hannah Williams of Te Waha Nui

Students across New Zealand are striking today as part of a worldwide day of action over global warming and the issue of climate change.

The strikes are expected to bring tens of thousands of students to the streets across the globe from Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Strikes in more then 20 towns and cities around New Zealand are planned, ranging from Russell in the north to Nelson in the south.

READ MORE: Amnesty welcomes school climate strikes, warns ‘truant’ governments

The Auckland strike will begin midday in Aotea Square, with musical performances and guest speakers coming out to discuss any and all environmental issues.

The demands of the School Strike 4 Climate NZ include passing a proposed Zero Carbon Act and ceasing all exploration and extraction of fossil fuels immediately.

Auckland University of Technology communications student Millie Hinchliffe said the strike was a good thing because it showed the younger generation was more aware of these environmental issues being seen through social media.

“People have become more aware of what’s going on … before the internet, people were aware but not as aware as to how bad the impact was but now you’re able to see it,” she said.

PM backs students
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with climate protesting students at Wellington College this week, saying it was vital that civic leaders listened to the concerns of the next generation.

“Students around the world are calling politicians to action – we have a responsibility to listen to them and respond,” she said.

Opposition leader Simon Bridges told The AM Show it was an important issue and he would not begrudge students taking a day off school to protest lack of action on climate change. However he was unsure whether the ends justify the means.

More than 1500 teachers and academics have thrown their support behind the strike by signing the Academics, Teachers and Researchers in Solidarity with School Strike 4 Climate Aotearoa New Zealand.

An academic who signed the above letter, senior researcher at Victoria University Dr Judy Lawrence, believes it is important for the younger generation to be involved, because it is their future that will be affected the most.

“The government makes decisions which will affect future generations and especially for those who cannot vote. So you are directly affected but have no voice. You will inherit the harm done by policy delay.

“Hope won’t do it. You want action.”

The movement started after 15-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg sat outside the Swedish Parliament building in Stockholm until the September election.

Her protest saw thousands rally behind her with strikes happening across Germany, Switzerland and England.

Te Waha Nui is AUT University’s training online publication and newspaper, publishing the work of journalism students on the Bachelor of Communication Studies and Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies programmes.

Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk

Amnesty International today warned that the failure of governments to tackle climate change could amount to the greatest inter-generational human rights violation in history. a

The London-based rights organisation welcomed a global day of school strikes against climate change planned for tomorrow by young people.

“Amnesty International stands with all children and young people who are organising and taking part in school strikes for climate action,” said Amnesty International’s secretary-general Kumi Naidoo.

READ MORE: Students striking from school for a safe climate future

This is an important social justice movement that is mobilising thousands of people to peacefully call on governments to stop climate change.

“It is unfortunate that children have to sacrifice days of learning in school to demand that adults do the right thing.

“However, they know the consequences of the current shameful inaction both for themselves and future generations. This should be a moment for stark self-reflection by our political class.

“Instead of criticising young people for taking part in these protests, like some misguided politicians have done, we should be asking why governments are getting away with playing truant on climate action.”

Devastating impacts
Amnesty International warned that climate change was having and would have even more devastating impacts on human rights unless governments acted now to change course.

Climate change especially affects people who are already vulnerable, disadvantaged or subject to discrimination, the organisation said.

“Children especially are more vulnerable to climate-related impacts, due to their specific metabolism, physiology and developmental needs,” Amnesty said in a statement.

“Climate change also poses a risk to their mental health; children exposed to traumatic events such as natural disasters, exacerbated by climate change, can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorders.”

Naidoo said: “Climate change is a human rights issue precisely because of the impact it is having on people. It compounds and magnifies existing inequalities, and it is children who will grow up to see its increasingly frightening effects.

“The fact that most governments have barely lifted a finger in response to our mutually assured destruction amounts to one of the greatest inter-generational human rights violations in history.”

Millions of people are already suffering from its catastrophic effects – from prolonged drought in sub-Saharan Africa to devastating tropical storms sweeping across South-east Asia and the Caribbean.

Devastating heatwaves
During the summer months for the northern hemisphere in 2018, communities from the Arctic Circle to Greece, Japan, Pakistan and the USA experienced devastating heatwaves and wildfires that killed and injured hundreds of people.

“Children are often told they are ‘tomorrow’s leaders’. But if they wait until ‘tomorrow’ there may not be a future in which to lead. Young people are putting their leaders to shame with the passion and determination they are showing to fight this crucial battle now,”  Naidoo said.

The latest pledges made by governments to mitigate climate change— which are yet to be implemented—are completely inadequate as they would lead to a catastrophic 3°C increase in average global temperatures over pre-industrial levels by 2100.

Amnesty International calls on states to scale up climate action substantially and to do so in a manner consistent with human rights.

One of the crucial ways this can happen is if people most affected by climate change, such as children and young people, are engaged in efforts to address and mitigate climate change, while being provided with the necessary information and education to participate meaningfully in such discussions, and included in decision-making that directly affects them.

“Every day that we allow climate change to get worse ultimately makes it harder to stop and reverse its catastrophic effects. There is nothing stopping governments from doing everything in their power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the shortest possible time-frame.

“There is nothing stopping them from finding ways to halve emissions from their 2010 levels by 2030, and to net-zero by 2050, as climate scientists have called for,” said Naidoo.

“The only thing standing in the way of protecting humanity from climate change is the fact that our leaders lack the political will and have barely tried. Politicians can keep making excuses for their inaction, but nature does not negotiate. They must listen to young people and take steps today to stop climate change, because the alternative is unthinkable.”

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