Overview
On Friday 15 March 2019, tens of thousands of young students marched in towns and cities throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. United by their concern for the future of the planet, they joined a global campaign known as School Strike 4 Climate Action.
The organisers of the New Zealand movement issued a list of demands to the government before the strike. They demanded:
- Pass a Zero Carbon Act laying out a plan to get to carbon neutrality by 2050
- Stop all exploration and extraction of fossil fuels
- Regulate emissions from agriculture
The protest caused controversy in some quarters, with concerned people questioning whether striking was a worthwhile use of learning time. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern released a statement acknowledging the strike: 'I have said that climate change is my generation's nuclear free moment - for them it's literally their future'.
The School Strike 4 Climate Action movement began in Sweden in August 2018 when 15-year-old Greta Thunberg missed school to protest outside the Swedish Parliament holding a sign that read ‘Skolstrejk för klimatet (school strike for the climate)’. Since then it has grown into a worldwide movement, where youth are at the forefront of demanding governments protect the future of the environment they will inherit.
References:
Kenny, Lee. 2019. Tens of thousands of school students demonstrate across NZ calling for action on climate change. Dominion Post, 15 March. (https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/111298009/tens-of-thousands-of-school-students-demonstrate-across-nz-calling-for-action-on-climate-change)
Longley, Mark. 2019. Live updates: New Zealand's school kids join global climate change strike. Newshub, 15 March. https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/03/live-updates-new-zealand-s-school-kids-join-global-climate-change-strike.html
Manhire, Toby. 2019. NZ School strike for climate: everything you need to know. The Spinoff, 14 March. https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/14-03-2019/nz-schools-strike-for-climate-everything-you-need-to-know
---. 2019. Student protest organisers discuss striking for climate change - 'it is the nuclear-free issue of our generation'. TVNZ, 14 March. https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/student-protest-organisers-discuss-striking-climate-change-nuclear-free-issue-our-generation