“As children go on strike for climate action this Friday, their parents and whanau will be right behind them, calling for a climate emergency to be declared”, says Alicia Hall, founder of the Millions of Mothers movement.

“This Friday in Wellington, our children and young people will be walking the short distance from Civic Square to the Beehive. Up and down the country, they will be assembling in squares, parks, wherever there is room to wave a homemade placard. And behind them will be their mothers… their fathers, grandparents, aunties, uncles and everyone who cares about the future of our children and our planet.

“Since the first strike in March this year, my four-year-old daughter has called Parliament Grounds “climate justice” - not because of anything that goes on in the buildings, but because of all the work done by School Strike 4 Climate NZ, Ollie Langridge and their supporters out on the lawn to draw attention to the issue. “Our nation is waking up, but the ultimate destination is still far-off. Now we need our Members of Parliament to make this an actual place of Climate Justice.

“Most of our elected leaders in Parliament are parents too. And so I appeal to them, parent to parent. Please stop politicising our children’s future. The climate crisis is a challenge that we all must face together. We need a Zero Carbon Act, we need a renewable and regenerative economy, and we need to hear from leaders what transition and adaptation will look like in the practical sense so we can start having conversations with each other and reimagining our future world.”

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