IACD continues this month with our theme on Oceania and the 13th Sustainable Development Goal on climate action.
Climate Action: Young People in Australia Step up
Teenage Climate Activist Named Newcastle Young Citizen of the Year
Alexa Stuart has been active in taking and promoting climate action in Australia since she first participated in a climate action rally in 2018. She very quickly began to take on a lead role in the strikes and rallies through speeches, interacting with the media, liaising with police, and working to promote the Student Strike 4 Climate.
Recently, Alexa was named the Newcastle Young Citizen of the Year Award for her work, and a full article detailing her story can be read here.
School Strike 4 Climate Australia
Students from all over Australia have come together to demand urgent climate action be taken to address their specific concerns:
- No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine
- 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030
- Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities.
The students state, “In Australia, education is viewed as immensely important, and a key way to make a difference in the world. But simply going to school isn’t doing anything about climate change. And it doesn’t seem that our politicians are doing anything,or at least not enough, about climate change either. So, as our contribution to the changes we want to see, we are striking from school. We are temporarily sacrificing our education in order to save our futures from climate wrecking projects like the Adani coal mine.”
You can register to attend here, and read more about School Strike 4 Climate Australia here.
Climate Education in New Zealand
For the first time, every school-aged student in New Zealand will learn about climate change and have access to materials addressing taking climate action.
The Guardian recently featured an article on the new curriculum, part of their article has been reproduced below:
Every school in New Zealand will this year have access to materials about the climate crisis written by the country’s leading science agencies – including tools for students to plan their own activism, and to process their feelings of “eco-anxiety” over global heating.
The curriculum will put New Zealand at the forefront of climate change education worldwide; governments in neighbouring Australia and the United Kingdom have both faced criticism for lack of cohesive teaching on the climate crisis. The New Zealand scheme, which will be offered to all schools that teach 11 to 15 year-old students, will not be compulsory, the government said.
via https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/13/new-zealand-schools-to-teach-students-about-climate-crisis-activism-and-eco-anxiety
