Right across the world, the youth climate strike movement is gaining momentum, spearheaded by the now 16-year-old climate activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greta Thunberg who sat outside Sweden’s parliament protesting her government’s failure to act on the biggest threat facing her generation – climate change.
Students in more than 100 countries are taking Thunberg’s cue and mobilising. In the United States, youth activists Alexandria Villasenor of New York City, Isra Hirsi of Minnesota and Haven Coleman of Denver, Colorado, have helped to organise over 400 protest actions across all 50 states.
In Australia, thousands of students have participated in the Fridays for Future schools strikes, demanding that politicians treat climate change as an emergency.
“We are school students from cities and towns across Australia. Most of us have never met before but are united by our concern about our planet,” reads the School Strike 4 Climate website. “We are striking from school to tell our politicians to take our futures seriously and treat climate change for what it is – a crisis.”
Their list of demands are:
1. Stop the Adani coal mine
2. No new coal, oil and gas projects
3. 100% renewable energy by 2030
And it’s no surprise that in the lead up to the Australian election on May 18, action on climate change is the top agenda item for many young voters. So we’ve chosen ten of the best protest signs from Australia’s school strike for climate that captures how young people feel about the issue.
1. “It’s getting hot in here, so take off all your coal”
This is a clever twist on the lyrics of rap artist Nelly’s song, “Hot in Herre”. We likey.
2. The Australian government gets an ‘F’
An artful sign from an Adelaide student which grades the performance of the Australian government on climate change. It gets an ‘F’ on key areas and “needs to try harder”.
Related Post: Climate Change Policies: How Do Australian Labor, the Coalition and the Greens Compare?
3. Adults, clean up your mess
This young protestor telling adults that they should be cleaning up their mess like kids are told to clean theirs.
4. Each year it gets hotter
This young striker is on the climate pulse; every year she’s been alive has been the hottest year on record, a fact many politicians like to ignore.
5. Telling it like it is
This young activist in Melbourne calling it the way she sees it; with so much evidence of climate change across the country, the Australian government are a bunch of idiots for doing nothing to tackle it.
6. Denial is not a policy
This student activist can see the consequences of climate change in increasing rates of deforestation and fires, and coral reefs dying – and still the Liberal Party deny and do nothing.
7. “Change the politics not the climate”
This Cairns student demands a political system change, not a climate change.
8. “Well be less activist if you’ll be less shit”
Basically, what they said.
9. What’s the point of an education exactly?
A student climate striker asks the government a relevant question indeed.
10. Skipping school for a good reason
This duo reminds the crowd why they’re skipping school to strike – because politicians have failed to do their job.
Recommending reading:
- Young People Won’t Accept Inaction on Climate Change, and They’ll Be Voting in Droves
- Your Political Involvement Matters: A Case for Participating in Politics, Elections and Government
- Morrison Government Approves Next Step Towards Adani Coal Mine
- Dr Kerryn Phelps Wins Wentworth By-Election. Here’s What It Means For Australian Climate Change Policy…
- Greta Thunberg, The 15-Year-Old ‘Radical’ Climate Activist Demanding Systemic Change
Feature image of School Strike for Climate in Melbourne in May 2019 taken by Julian Meehan via Flickr.
