Our Seas Our Future (OSOF) would like to applaud those who participated in the School Strike for Climate which took place on Friday and involved tens of thousands of school students. As a non-profit charity organisation dedicated to raising awareness on environmental issues, this unprecedented call for political action by school students is seen as an important example of grassroots climate activism in the 21st century.

OSOF stands with those who were brave enough to protest and has long spoken out about the pressing importance of addressing climate change through our Climate Action Now brand. OSOF hopes that this bold step made by our future leaders will encourage current leaders to take more tangible and urgent steps towards mitigating the effects of climate change, and most importantly clamp down on corporate greed at the expense of the environment.

Our organisation is disappointed to see a lack of support from several MPs, most notably National’s Nikki Kaye & Judith Collins. OSOF believes that despite controversy around students missing a day of school, the strikes were beneficial to education as the student community was united over an issue that is one of the most important and defining challenges of our time.

OSOF spokesperson Olivia Gallagher said the success in mobilising young people through the School Climate strike should be a wakeup call for government and industry.

“It’s important that the collective action taken by our future leaders does not fall on deaf ears - this strike represents an important moment for young people to voice their genuine concerns about climate change and the need to address and redefine environmental management strategies after decades of neglect.”

Whilst recent Government decisions such as the move to ban offshore oil exploration and single use plastic bags have been steps in the right direction, OSOF would like to see Government do more to address the issue of plastic pollution, as well as see a greater attempt in national and global emission reductions.

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