Failing on climate fails Australian students
Australia’s education unions have thrown their support behind the School Strike for Climate (SS4C) movement, as students and supporters prepare for the national climate strike protest on Friday 15 October, two weeks before the crucial Glasgow COP26 climate summit.
The young activists say, “All around Australia, people are taking the day off to demand climate justice for everyone”.
SS4C have arranged 35 online meetings across the nation on Friday, to demand:
No new coal, oil, and gas projects, including the Adani mine
100% renewable energy generations and exports by 2030
Funding of a just transition and job creation for all fossil-fuel workers and their communities.
The Independent Education Union, Australian Education Union, and National Tertiary Education Union, representing nearly 300,000 education workers, issued a joint statement in support of the SS4C.
“A 2050 target is close to useless without a clear and credible plan to get there,” it read. “That means cutting fossil-fuel subsidies and investing in the secure jobs of tomorrow, today.
“Students and young people are counting on us. Australia must take an ambitious pledge to the Glasgow COP26 Summit and work towards a safe, fair and prosperous future for young Australians.”
May’s Climate Strike in the Treasury Gardens.
SS4C activists Austin, Beth, Grace, and Millie helped create a video addressing IEU members, in which they discussed why they got involved in the campaign.
“Like so many young people across Australia I saw the importance of climate action and that this is our last chance,” said Austin.
“The students of today are the adults of tomorrow and that’s why it’s so important to show the government that we care that our futures are being stolen,” said Beth.
“This Friday… we’ll be striking from school either online or in person to prove that we would rather sacrifice our learning to guarantee a safe future for everyone, especially those on the frontlines… everyone be taking to the streets or showing up on Zoom to show how much they care about the government’s inaction on the climate crisis.”
SS4C says it is made up of “school students of all ages, races, genders, backgrounds and sexualities from every part of Australia. United by our concern for the future of the planet that we live in, we have bridged the thousands of kilometres that separates us to create the one of the biggest movements in Australian history”.
“We are striking from school to demand that our politicians take our future seriously & treat climate change as what it is: a crisis.”
The SS4C platform
We are in the thick of the climate crisis.
Yet our government continues to subsidise their mates in the fossil fuel industry, putting all of us at risk.
We are already seeing the impacts of climate change hurt those closest to us.
If we don't act now and transition swiftly away from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy, things will only get worse. But it's going to take all of us working together to succeed.
Australia is ranked last in the world on climate action.
If we do not act now, Australia risks being left behind, resulting in economic and climate impacts beyond what we can comprehend.
The government thinks that our movement of young people can't hurt them.
Think again. Thousands of us can now vote since our first strike in 2018, and that number is only going to grow.
The world isn't waiting, so neither are we.
IEU Victoria Tasmania General Secretary Deb James with SS4C organisers Anjali Sharma and Ella Simon.