Opening Ceremony Sunflower for Climate Justice

Tomorrow afternoon at 12.15pm, 350 Aotearoa is leading hundreds of people to gather in Frank Kitts Park, outside the Petroleum New Zealand Conference at TSB Arena, in an opening ceremony for the Rally for Climate Justice, that will protest new oil and gas in Aotearoa.

“We are at a turning point in history - we’ve seen our hottest summer on record, sea level rise accelerating, cyclones pounding; with climate change bearing down we need to steer New Zealand away from any new fossil fuel projects immediately,” said Niamh O’Flynn, executive director of 350 Aotearoa.

“People from all walks of life, all across Aotearoa are demanding an end to new oil and gas. It’s time for our government take the bold stance on climate change that they were elected for and end oil, so we can build our fossil free future.”

The Opening Ceremony group will piece together a giant sunflower, representing the different communities and groups all across New Zealand - doctors, church leaders, grandparents, and many more - that are united in their demand for an end to new oil and gas projects in Aotearoa, and will be standing together at the Rally for Climate Justice. Each group will have a representative to speak to the crowd about why their group is standing against the Petroleum New Zealand Conference.

Sunflowers are often used globally as a symbol the climate movement, as it represents both resistance to oil and gas expansion, and the vision for a brighter future, powered by the sun and wind.

The event will be followed on Tuesday by a mass blockade of the conference in the Rally for Climate Justice, hosted by Oil Free Wellington.

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