School Strike 4 Climate is back
School strikers around the country will march again next month to demand climate action, for the first time since Covid-19 hit.
On Friday, April 9, ‘‘marches, protests and action’’ will take place from Auckland in the north to Dunedin in the south.
School Strike 4 Climate spokesman Jack Barlow said the purpose of the strike was to call for ‘‘bold leadership’’ on climate change. Despite the Government’s declaration of a climate emergency in December 2020, students did not feel politicians were taking climate change seriously enough.
‘‘We’ve seen how quickly we can reshape society with leadership and a mandate with Covid-19,’’ Barlow said.
‘‘We need the same amount of ambition and bravery to address another crisis we face.’’
The 16-year-old student from Western Springs College in Auckland said it was also about getting the strikers ‘‘back out there’’ and building up the momentum from previous strikes.
Strike action on September 27, 2019, saw 170,000 people nationwide waving placards and megaphones on New Zealand’s streets. It was the third school strike to take place in 2019, inspired by 16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
Auckland school strikers had been planning a strike in April 2020, but this was cancelled because of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
Christina Sieberhagen, 15, another Auckland-based School Strike 4 Climate spokesperson, said health and safety was the No 1 priority for the march.
She said Covid-19 would shape how the strike action would look, but it would only take place in alert level 1.
There would be QR codes to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app and mask use would be encouraged.
Strike 4 Climate action on April 9
Waitaki – 11am – Orana Park; Otautahi/Christchurch – 12pm – Cathedral Square; Ta¯maki Makaurau – 12pm – Te Komititanga, bottom of Queen St; Wellington – 11am – Civic Square; Tauranga – 12pm – Waterfront (Starbucks end of The Strand); Hauraki/Thames – 12pm – Mary St; Manawatu¯ – 12pm – Te Marae o Hine (The Square); Rotorua – 2pm – Government Gardens (pending council approval); Dunedin – 12.30pm – Dental School; Whakatane – time to be determined – Whakatane High School grounds.