Wairarapa college students will join international protest
By: Carys Gibbs
Published: Mon 11 Mar 2019 12:56 PM
Wairarapa college students will join international protest this Friday 15th March 2019.
Students from St Matthews, Rathkeale, Makoura, Solway and Wairarapa college will come together at 9am this Friday at the Masterton town square to make a stand and demand the government do more to halt climate change. Wairarapa Organiser Carys Gibbs says "Climate change affects everyone, as the next generation it will be us that have to deal with the severe consequences. By coming together as a community, we can affect change, which needs to start now."
"The Government are simply not doing enough; it's a time sensitive issue that needs addressing now, for tomorrow."
The idea for the strike came from kids in Central Victoria, Australia, who are worried about climate change and tired of our politicians not doing anything about it. They were inspired by 15 year old Swedish student Greta who went on strike in August 2018 and strikes with other school students in Sweden every Friday.
We demand that the New Zealand Government do more now to hold global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In our country, this could look like:
Passing an ambitious and effective Zero Carbon Act that gives New Zealand a coherent long term plan to get to carbon neutrality by 2050.
Keeping the effect of global warming and its consequences for all living things on this planet in mind when making decisions for the future;
The paths to reaching our emission targets being fast tracked, well planned and transparent so the New Zealand public is aware that progress is being made and can hold the Government to account;
Ceasing all exploration and extraction of more fossil fuels immediately. We already have more in our reserves than we can afford to burn to avoid catastrophic climate change. We need to invest in renewable energy alternatives now.
Regulating emissions from agriculture, which account for almost half of our emissions, and for which there is currently no plan.
More information is available on the www.schoolstrike4climatenz.com or search Masterton Schools Strike for Climate Change on Facebook