On September 20, three days before world leaders meet in New York for the United Nations Emergency Climate Summit, hundreds of thousands of school students and workers will join millions worldwide to down tools as part of the world’s largest #ClimateStrike.
The Earth is currently in a state of global climate crisis with climate change having observable effects on the environment.
Shrinking glaciers, ramped bushfires, loss of sea ice, accelerated sea-level rise and more intense heatwaves are all deadly signifiers that the crisis has gone unaddressed for too long. Further, according to NASA’s Third and Fourth National Climate Assessment Reports this change will continue through this century and beyond.
The magnitude of this climate change, however, is dependant on the crucial course of action taken presently. Failure to act and enact systematic reform would see temperatures continue to rise, more droughts and heatwaves, stronger and more intensified hurricanes, increased flooding and more.
With these imminent natural threats, the national and global populous finds itself at a turning point beyond which further and worsened devastation will be irreversible. At this point, the wider public – both nationwide and worldwide – is speaking out.
Inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, teenagers in regional Victoria kicked off the school strike movement in Australia last October, with 20,000 students striking nationally in November and then 150,000 in March. A larger attendance is expected at the upcoming September 20 Global Climate Strike, as concern about the climate crisis continues to grow.
On September 20, in Australia, strikers will be calling for governments to commit to no new coal, oil and gas projects — including the imminent Adani mine. They will also be calling for 100 per cent renewable energy generation and exports by 2030 and the funding of just transition and job creation for all fossil-fuel industry workers and communities.
Students will be joined by workers, First Nations people, parents, unions and more at strikes in every capital city of Australia, dozens of regional towns and centres and every continent on earth.
Unable to vote at the recent Federal Election, students are undeterred by the outcome but committed to building a bigger, bolder movement to confront the climate crisis via the September strike.
School Strike 4 Climate student organisers have this to say about the strike:
Australia is already on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Our Government should be helping to transform our economy and society in ways that work for people and our planet. But instead, they are helping billionaire companies like Adani open the floodgates to new coal, oil and gas projects, which put all of us in the firing line of more dangerous climate impacts.
History reminds us that politicians rarely lead. They need people-powered movements to push them. By downing tools at a global scale, we’ll show our politicians that all of us want climate justice, because the alternative is unthinkable.
We’re striking in solidarity with everyone who’s being hurt by the climate crisis already and everyone who will be impacted if we don’t act now: First Nations people, workers, young people, mining communities and more.
Further, student organisers call for all to attend in aiding to make these essential steps to aid the crisis:
“Everyone is invited. Everyone is needed. On March 15, 1.6 million people went on strike globally. On September 20, we’re going even bigger. If you’re an adult, please take the day off and invite your friends, workmates and families to join us.”
Click HERE to see details of strikes taking place in Australia.
School Strike 4 Climate Australia is a student-led organisation fighting for urgent action on the climate crisis. You can follow School Strike 4 Climate Australia on Twitter @StrikeClimate.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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