Thousands of school students set to strike for action on climate change today



Thousands of young Kiwis will skip school today and will take to the streets calling for urgent action on climate change.
Students will strike outside Parliament, Auckland's Aotea Square and Christchurch's North Hagley Park as part of the Global School Strike for Climate movement.
They are demanding Parliament passes an ambitious Zero Carbon Act that aims to make New Zealand carbon-free by 2040.
Strike organiser Raven Maeder said on TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning that protesters have "two very clear demands of Government".
They include: "Cross-party support for an ambitious Zero Carbon Bill to be passed into law that sets in place a plan to get our country to zero carbon by 2040", and requesting the Government "declare a climate emergency to reflect the nature of the crisis."
Co-organiser Sophie Hanford added that inaction towards climate change would have greater ramifications for our jobs and economy in the future than if we acted now.
"The cost of inaction is our future and the cost of inaction is everything that we love, and it's the planet. So it’s kind of like, at which point are we kind of willing to stand up for that and say, 'Actually, the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of acting now?'
"So if we just do that now and we safeguard the planet, we safeguard our future – that makes for a more resilient economy and jobs for the future; long-term solutions for our generation."

Raven added, "The kind of future that we're advocating for is a much more equal and just one."

Similar protests also took place in March.

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