3 April 2024

OraTaiao calls on all of Aotearoa to get active and take a stand for health this Friday, by joining the School Strike for Climate Strike to be held in at least 20 locations around the country.

“As health workers, we know that our changing climate is the biggest threat to human health and planetary well-being,” says Dr Dermot Coffey, OraTaiao co-convenor, “as well as the biggest chance to build a fairer, healthier Tiriti-founded future together.”

“Last year was the hottest ever recorded on Earth, and the first two months of 2024 smashed temperature records again. Events marking the first anniversary of the deadly Cyclone Gabrielle were hardly finished when a state of emergency was declared in Ōtautahi Christchurch, due to wildfires tearing through the Port Hills.”

“Medication won’t be enough to treat this health problem. This is why we have written a prescription for everyone of every age and everywhere in Aotearoa, to join this Friday’s School Strike for Climate”, says Dr Coffey. “We also know that a one-off action is most effective as part of an ongoing campaign, so we’ve included a few repeats.”

OraTaiao strongly supports all six of School Strike 4 Climate NZ’s demands: keep the ban on oil and gas exploration, uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi, end the fast track approvals legislation, oppose mining and drilling, work to free Palestine, and ensure climate education is accessible for all. These demands will reduce our climate risk fairly, build resilience, and help ensure that Aotearoa’s rangatahi are a real part of climate planning and decision-making.

Dr Coffey says “Students clearly understand climate science and maths, they demand real climate action now, and it’s time for us to join them. We must limit long term global warming within the humanly adaptable 1.5 degrees while we still can.”

OraTaiao calls on school trustees, teachers, parents, caregivers, aunts, uncles, grandparents and neighbours everywhere and from every workplace to join Aotearoa’s students to make this Friday’s School Strike our country’s biggest ever call for climate action.

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