Adults invited to third strike

Students will take to the streets again demanding action on climate change, and this time they’re inviting adults to join them.

Tens of thousands of students took part in strikes during March and May, and organisers are hoping their next action on September 27 will be even bigger.

The strike will mark the end of a global week of climate-focused events and challenges running from September 20.

Students want adults to show their support by walking out of work to join them.

School Strike 4 Climate national coordinator Sophie Handford said standing up for the planet could not just be left to young people.

Climate change ‘‘poses a threat to all of our futures’’, she added.

Handford said while young people would be most affected, it was important to acknowledge the solution ‘‘has to be intergenerational’’.

Students were being encouraged to bring along their parents, grandparents and other community members on September 27, she said.

By getting people of all ages involved, organisers hoped to reach a ‘‘tipping point . . . where the amount of people will really trigger action’’, Handford explained.

She said the power of group action had already been seen in the growing number of councils to declare a climate emergency.

‘‘That declaration needs to mean things,’’ Handford said, as school strikers would be holding councils to account on their environmental policies.

The school strikers will be working with unions and other climate groups, including Generation Zero, Greenpeace and 350 Aotearoa, in the run-up to the September strike.

Handford said the important thing was ensuring the strike action had as big an impact as possible.

Her message to adults nervous about missing a day’s work to join the strike was to consider their children’s future and the importance of standing up for climate justice.

To students, she said: ‘‘You’re missing a day’s school but you’re not missing a day’s education.’’

Tens of thousands of students joined protests across New Zealand and around the world on March 15 and May 29.

Their demands centre on governments doing everything in their power to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

They are calling on the Government to declare a climate emergency, and asking for cross-party support for a Zero Carbon Act.