School Strike for Climate is back! I will never forget, back in 2019 watching a horde of young people marching down Bank Street in Whangārei heading for the town Basin. I was thrilled that youth here were using their voice to demand effective climate action.
Then the pandemic came along killing that momentum. This year, there were strikes in other parts of the country. The indefatigable Sophie Hansen has assembled a nation-wide team to promote the strikes and rebuild the momentum.
The Whangārei strike starts at 11.00 at Pūtahi Park at the Town Basin. Students will be arriving from Whangārei Girls High at about 2.00 p.m.
The Kaitaia Strike is at 1.30 p.m. at the Te Ahu Centre.
School Strike for Climate and its sister movement Fridays for Future are now intergenerational movements. Initiated by Greta Thunberg’s protest, young people have created what is probably the greatest mass movement on the planet. And now older generations have the opportunity (obligation?) to support them.
Impressive learning and Four Demands
I have been in on some of the panning work in shared documents, video calls and a messaging app, and have been so impressed by the rate of learning of our young people. They have had extensive discussions about their four demands to the government. They have included a 100% transition to regenerative agriculture, demonstrating that their understanding of climate dynamics is much more nuanced. The predominately Pākehā group is also calling for Tiriti-centred climate justice.
Here are the four demands.
Climate Action Tai Tokerau 
It wasn’t just the pandemic that killed the momentum – the first climate strike on 15-March 2019 was also overshadowed by the Christchurch mosque shootings that happened later that day. I vividly remember the rollercoaster of feelings that I experienced during that day, which started with so much hope and action and ended with so much tragedy and despair.
My wife and I will once again support the strike and march with the students. We have recently found some relief from our mental stress and eco-anxiety by embracing the degrowth mindset, and we absolutely positively completely support the four demands for this strike.
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Apologies for getting the date wrong in my comment above – it was of course 15-Mar 2019, not May. My bad for not proof-reading before posting.
Is there a way to edit comments after posting? If not, I’m happy for an admin to correct my earlier comment and remove this one.
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