School Strike 4 Climate in Aotearoa New Zealand

Youth, relationships and climate justice

Bibliographic Data

ID21570448
AuthorsSally Birdsall (0000-0002-8348-7605, University of Auckland, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume39
Issue2
Pages139-151
Publication date2023-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Environmental Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0814-0626 • E-ISSN: 2049-775X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/aee.2022.51
OpenAlexW4313592940
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited19

The School Strike 4 Climate New Zealand (SS4CNZ) movement have organised and led four strikes between 2019 and 2021. With each successive strike, adult support for students’ demands increased. Their most notable achievement was garnering sufficient support to pass Aotearoa New Zealand’s Zero Carbon Bill into legislation. However, tensions with SS4CNZ led to the Auckland Chapter announcing its disbandment in 2021. There were mixed responses to their decision. In this reflective essay I argue that this disbandment was a positive move forward because these youth were showing their willingness to re-build relationships with their Māori and Pacific Island activist peers. By disbanding, not only were these young leaders enabling their Māori and Pacific Island peers to lead future actions, they were acknowledging the connections between racism, colonialism and climate justice; responding to our relational crisis by demonstrating the importance of re-building robust and reciprocal relationships between humans and more-than-humans when advocating for ways to navigate towards a climate-just society

Aotearoa · Climate change · Climate justice · Colonialism · Economic Justice · Legislation · Political science · Project commissioning · Publishing · Racism · Sociology · Children's Rights and Participation · Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration · Law · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics · Ecology

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Open DOIOpen Access