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The dreary weather today hasn't stopped students from gathering in Tauranga city to make their voices heard surrounding the issues of climate change.
The protest is part of a nationwide movement of school students called School Strike 4 Climate.
The group of students, who marched from The Strand starting at 12pm today, through Devonport road, before circling back to the Tauranga City Council building all had one thing in common.
Their futures are more important than missing a few hours of school.
Signs were held high as the group moved through the city, gaining toots and cheers of encouragement from passers-by.
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Students, Maraea Schuurmans, left, and Natalia House with their recycled sign from the last march.
One sign read: 'The earth is hotter than my crush,” with another reading: 'Don't leave us your leftovers.”
A megaphone heightened the voices of the young students, who recited chants to be heard all over the city.
High school student Natalia House says she doesn't want our world to become a post-apocalyptic world from a movie.
'Our time is running out, and it's scary,” says Natalia.
Fellow peer, Maraea Schuurmans adds that this march means a lot to her.
'Our future lies in their hands,” says Maraea.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw says the party fully supports the demands of the climate strikers.
'Today the climate strikers have provided a set of demands that would help meet the scale of the challenge we have ahead. And their message couldn't be clearer: we need to act; and we need to act right now.
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Students marching outside the Tauranga City Council building.
'The decisions this Government takes will shape the type of world the climate strikers inherit from us. This is the world of their friends, classmates, brothers, sisters, and cousins.
'If we want their future to be safe, prosperous and stable, then we will need to do more to rapidly bring down emissions, whilst ending inequality, and making life better for everyone.
'Later this year the Government will publish an Emissions Reduction Plan setting out how we plan to meet our climate targets. The climate strikers' demands will form an important part of this work.
”Not least their demands to ensure a just transition, an honouring of our Pasifika neighbours, and more climate education in schools,” Shaw says.
6 comments
And how did they get there
Posted on 09-04-2021 18:03 | By R1Squid
By Mum in the family gas guggling SUV. HUH!
Youthful enthusiasm
Posted on 09-04-2021 18:14 | By Kancho
Sadly humanity is doomed either way just a question of when . World population is of course the biggest threat and shows an escalation not a decline. We live in a fortunate country but this is not so for so many. We are consumers and we pollute other countries to manufacture our needs our fashions our technologies. So we pretend to be caring and green but we are far from it. The poor in the world have no luxuries we take for granted. However world resources are dwindling as populations increase and the pollution increases with our consumerism. So nothing will stop as resources are swallowed up by increasing population and we rich countries swallow up more and waste more without a thought of the pollution it's causes in other countries. But hey march away "tomorrow is another country they do things differently there"
protest
Posted on 09-04-2021 18:16 | By dumbkof2
99% of these students wouldn't know what its about. Just another day off school for most of them. when they go looking for a job bosses will say no when they learn that these students took part in protests and strikes
So the news is good!!..........
Posted on 09-04-2021 20:57 | By groutby
.....our 'time is not running out and we do not need to be scared'...as long as we do not believe such propoganda that is being peddled to these gullible misguided young folk...and to suggest a 'post apocolyptic' world is just plain nutty. All of us want to reduce harmful emissions which pose a clear and definative threat to all on the planet, but to claim such an end to the planet is totally baseless and been claimed on several occasions before and clearly come to nothing...this will be the same. Natalia and friends, you say 'this is like a movie and scary'.... the only scary thing here is that you actually believe exactly what you hear, that is more troubling for me when youth become adults. BTW of course James Shaw is supporting the 'demands of the climate strikers'...he needs all the support Greens can get!..any way possible..
Virtue signalling for no gain
Posted on 10-04-2021 01:00 | By Let's get real
New Zealanders contribute less than one quarter of one percent to what some believe to be man-made climate change (0.18% last time I looked). Our youth are being directed towards an unattainable goal, supported by the utopian dreams and public money from the left wing political movement. Why aren't they targeting their anger towards the communist countries....? I think that they would be better served learning about why we're looking at an ever expanding communist empire with the biggest polluters (Russia and China) building military might and ignoring any and all international pressure to desist. I think war and military force will impact on them far more than a few cows in a field.
A necessary part of growing up.
Posted on 11-04-2021 13:10 | By morepork
They have to learn that in a Democracy you have the right to peacefully demonstrate in favor of your viewpoint. The fact that it will change very little is something that takes longer to learn. I question that "their future is more important than a few hours off school." They might be better advised to get better informed and THEN look at decisions that affect their future.
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