19 May 2021

Friday. May 21st. Bring your mask, hand sanny, a water bottle, a red hot sign, your mates, and your loud voice (or even a megaphone... send it!).

Wag, wop, skip, skive, ditch, bunk, cut, (or whatever term you use), school and be a part of something that really matters - the future of your home.

 

School Strike 4 Climate Australia (SS4C) was started in October 2018 by three teenagers from Castlemaine, inspired by Greta Thunberg's weekly strikes outside Swedish Parliament. Since then, they've grown into a huge Australian movement. 

The school strike, happening in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Hobart and Adelaide, demands three things:

  • No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine
  • 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030
  • Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities

Climate change is intensifying the risk of flooding and heavy rainfall and SS4C is calling on the government to take our future seriously and treat climate change as what it is: a crisis.

We should be protecting our climate, land and water, and creating thousands of new jobs by growing Australia's renewable energy sector and backing First Nations solutions to protect Country.

Sir David Attenborough, the global treasure that everyone adores, had a few words for our Australian politicians in an interview. 

"You are the keepers of an extraordinary section of the surface of this planet, including the Barrier Reef, and what you say, what you do, really, really matters," he said.

"And then you suddenly say, 'No it doesn't matter ... it doesn't matter how much coal we burn ... we don't give a damn what it does to the rest of the world."

The 93-year-old then shared his support behind young people taking to the streets in protest.

"Young people see things very clearly. And they are speaking very clearly to politicians," he said. "They may not have the vote ... but it's their world that's coming along and they want to make it clear to the politicians that they know that."

David knows what's up. So do we. May 21st people - lock it in your calendars and suss out more information about SS4C here.

If you can't make it, that's all g! Read the news, watch a documentary, or talk to your mates. And if you really wanna pitch in, there's a bunch of other things you can be doing outside of school hours like volunteering with an environmental organisation, meeting with your local MP or sharing resources on ya socials. There has never been a better time to do something.