School Strike 4 Climate: Out of the classroom and onto the streets

School Strike 4 Climate is an international youth-led movement that originated in Sweden, taking its inspiration from climate activist Greta Thunberg, who began skipping school to protest in favour of climate action in 2018 at the age of 16.

The IEU spoke to students from independent schools in Sydney about why they decided to attend this year’s rally.

“I just want the government to hear young voices standing against that decisions that fund coal projects,” said a Year 10 student from a Catholic boys’ school.

He stood alongside two classmates, one of whom shared his fears for the future. “We saw something in class, by 2100, there might be a global food shortage and half the population might not be able to eat. So I think it’s really scary to think about what future generations will go through.”

Two Year 10 students from a co-ed independent school have been coming to climate marches since they were in Year 6. They’d like to see bigger crowds attending.

They brought along a classmate attending his first climate rally. He’d like to see the government take concrete steps.

“I think the safeguard mechanism should be expanded to include all sectors of the economy,” said the student. While he feels that a carbon price won’t be politically viable, “the next best thing is extending the safeguard mechanism to be harsher, bigger penalties, and also allow less emissions”.

Many school students spoke enthusiastically about teachers covering climate change in the classroom. They believe such lessons are too infrequent and they would like more in-depth education on environmental issues.

The IEU is proud to support school students striking for the climate. “As a union, we have a responsibility not only to improve working lives, but also make the world a better place,” said IEU Industrial Coordinator Amanda Hioe, who attended the rally. “We stand for the cause, and we stand with our youth.”