Students to join global protest on climate

MORE than 700 Victorian students are planning to strike from school to call for politicians to act on climate change.

Co-ordinated protests will run across the state from tomorrow, including 50 students in Geelong who will skip school to march outside the office of federal member for Corio, Richard Marles.

Kardinia International College students Laura Kelly, 16, and Jude Corbet O’Rourke, 17, organised tomorrow’s protest in Geelong. “I think it is incredibly powerful that students are willing to get behind on their education and fall a tiny bit back to protect this for our future,” Jude, in Year 11, said.

“It’s just students doing what they believe in and that’s really important in a progressive society.”

The student protests, initiated in Castlemaine, followed a Swedish student’s vow to sit on the steps of parliament every Friday until Sweden was in line with the Paris Agreement.

Greta Thunberg launched a call that has since gone worldwide — to Australia, the UK, Poland and France — for others to protest until their country was on a path to limit the temperature increase this century to below 1.5C.

“If politicians can’t see the effort and power behind this social movement, there’s something really off about that,” Laura said.

Nationwide, thousands of students across 100 schools are planning to attend strikes.

Kardinia International College principal David Fitzgerald said the school supported student action “that raises awareness regarding climate change”. “As this action is planned to take place during school time, the College has requested that all students involved have their parent’s permission,” he said.