Student activists take up the climate change challenge
STUDENT activists who couldn’t attend in-person climate strike rallies on Friday because of Covid-19 restrictions took to their phones instead, with plans to jam the inboxes of Australian politicians.
In-person School Strike 4 Climate rallies were held in some 40 cities and regional centres across the country, with organisers claiming a crowd of 3000 in Brisbane and 1500 in Adelaide.
Students in NSW and Victoria were forced to hold online rallies instead, where they were encouraged to “phone jam” and “email jam” the offices of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Environment Minister Sussan Ley and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese.
Sydney student Natasha Abhayawickrama, 17, said organisers had a number of demands, including an end to new coal, gas and oil projects, and a huge escalation of renewable energy targets.
“We also want net zero by 2035 … and for the government to actually treat the climate crisis for what it is, which is a crisis,” she said.
A 2035 net zero target seems like a big ask, when setting 2050 as the goal seems difficult enough, but the students are not the first group to call for it. Earlier this year a group of scientists engaged by the Climate Council issued a report saying Australia and other western nations needed to reach net zero by 2035, or 2040 at the latest.
“The climate crisis isn’t a future issue; it’s an issue that’s relevant now, because we’ve already seen these impacts,” Ms Abhayawickrama said. “The impacts of climate change are going to be irreversible by 2035 at the latest.”
Fifteen-year-old Anjali Beames, from Adelaide, said the federal Government was “failing young people and future generations”.
“Once we have the vote, we’re going to vote for our future,” she said.