As the United Nations issued its latest report detailing the climate emergency facing humanity—finding that world governments must triple their efforts to reduce carbon emissions in order to stop the dangerous warming of the globe—schoolchildren in Australia demonstrated that young people are largely taking the lead in fighting the climate crisis while many of their elected officials debate scientific conclusions and argue in favor of protecting corporate polluters' profits.
Thousands of students in Australia applauded the Senate on Tuesday as it voted in favor of supporting a national "School Strike 4 Climate Action," comprised of several walkouts across the country planned for this week.
The Senate just voted for a motion to support the #ClimateStrike and call for the government to have a climate policy! Thanks to everyone who stood on the right side of history, everyone else can get stuffed. pic.twitter.com/hSibdpncAO — School Strike 4 Climate (@StrikeClimate) November 27, 2018
Here's the text of the #schoolstrike motion just passed by the #Senate! Young people are more powerful than we've ever been led to believe. #auspol pic.twitter.com/74azvuHA1J — School Strike 4 Climate (@StrikeClimate) November 27, 2018
The strike was organized by a national collective of students, ages 5 to 18, who say they've grown fed up with politicians' support for fossil fuel projects like the mine that coal giant Adani is planning to build in Queensland.
While nearly three-quarters of Australians support halting the expansion of coal mining, according to the Australian Conservation Foundation, the country's political parties have not taken a firm stand stopping the Adani project from going forward.
"As young people we're already seeing the devastating impacts of climate change and will be forced to endure the consequences of our government's inaction. We need all politicians and any future government to take the action scientists tell us we need," said 14-year-old Jean Hinchliffe, who is organizing a strike in Sydney.
According to Buzzfeed News, the strikes will take place over three days starting on Wednesday. Other walkouts took place at the beginning of November, with 30 students winning a meeting with Member of Parliament Lisa Chesters after protesting the Adani mine outside her office.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison drew outcry—and eye-rolls—from the students on Monday when he demanded that they stay in school this week, saying in Parliament, "What we want is more learning in schools and less activism in schools."
.@AdamBandt: Students will go on strike from school calling for emergency action on climate change. Prime Minister will you join me in praising these kids?@ScottMorrisonMP: What we want, is more learning and less activism. MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #ParliamentLive pic.twitter.com/QW2nGnesBG — Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 26, 2018
"When young people try to have a voice in politics, Scott Morrison is shutting them down, yet he's happy to listen to the coal lobby and big corporations who continue to profit from making climate change worse," spokesperson Laura Sykes told Oil Change International.
ummm @ScottMorrisonMP look hope you don't mind but we're not going to follow your advice. we're striking for climate action and no-one can stop us, not even you. #SorryNotSorry #ClimateStrike https://t.co/g4xHZEVo9M pic.twitter.com/7uOwA4HugI — School Strike 4 Climate (@StrikeClimate) November 26, 2018
I asked my resident teenagers what they thought about ScoMo telling them to go back to school and be less activist. They said "Oh, yes, I now see the error of my ways. I will be less activist now."* https://t.co/nS8uyrIDL9 *They did not say this. — Tim Senior (@timsenior) November 27, 2018
"To those who voted against our motion for climate action in Parliament today, we say: your decisions have far more weight than you seem to acknowledge, and they will determine our future," Hinchliffe said. "You may not have to live through 50 degree [122 degrees Fahrenheit] days, bushfires, and crippling drought, but we will. Already, we are living with climate impacts and the toll it is taking on us as young people is huge. Right now, we're literally fighting for our lives."
The School Strike 4 Climate Action movement has compiled a list of demands for their elected officials, asking that they block the Adani coal mine as well as new coal and gas projects, and support legislation that would help Australia to shift to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.
The students join other young people around the world in fighting for climate action. Earlier this year 15-year-old Greta Thunberg of Sweden skipped school to sit outside her country's Parliament, calling attention to the climate crisis. In the U.S., the Sunrise Movement has successfully convinced 15 House Democrats to back the Green New Deal, while several young people are suing the U.S. government for failing to protect them from the harmful effects of carbon emissions.
"We're at the stage where we can't vote and by the time we're in power, it's going to be too late to start making change," Hinchliffe told Buzzfeed News. "So I think it's really important that we can start taking action in any way we can."
mrnick1537 on November 28th, 2018 at 09:31 UTC »
The man saying kids should focus on learning is a member of the same party that has consistently made budget cuts to education, most recently by diverting 65% of funding in the gonski program away from public schools in low income areas in favour of private schools.
Fuck this hypocrite saying young people should focus on education while he and his party does everything to take education options away from the youth.
Deus_Ex_Fnord on November 28th, 2018 at 08:55 UTC »
Having a bunch of over-the-hill millionaires who never have to work again after their term is a MASSIVE conflict of interest. It needs to be addressed. We need to get rid of the pollies pensions, and we need to start encouraging and voting younger politicians who actually have their finger on the pulse of the Australian people.
TeacherNeil on November 28th, 2018 at 06:59 UTC »
All those scientists he is disregarding spent a very long time learning.. If I were those kids I would be arguing that if you don’t change your behaviour in life based on what you’re learning, what is the point of being educated in the first place?