Young People Protest Climate Change Inaction in 82 Countries. New Zealand is not alone

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Most Australians accept climate change is real, but we continue to live much as we always have. Young people, writes Blanche Verlie, are shaking off this delusional paradox. 

Climate change is more than just an “issue” for the next generation: it’s an urgent existential threat to their future. 

Today more than 50 school strikes are planned across Australia, as part of protests in 82 countries. Profoundly concerned about climate change, which has been a reality for longer than most of the protesters have been alive, these students are creating a new cultural identity in opposition to the complacent, politicking adults running their countries.

And politicians have slammed skipping school to participate in the protest as an act against education itself. But Karena Menzie-Ballantyne argues by taking part in the protest, students are actually learning. They are demonstrating understanding of contemporary global issues, ability to think critically, to communicate and work effectively with others, as well as values and attitudes that focus on the common good beyond their own self-interest.

In New Zealand, 22 leading NZ Academics who back the School Strike 4 Climate.  Click here

The Auckland protest is being live tweeted from 11.20 am.

See also #SchoolsStrike4ClimateNZ