The Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education Centre (ERC) stands in solidarity with the organisers and participants of the School Strike 4 Climate Rally on 15 March 2019.
ERC Director Phil Glendenning said: "Climate change impacts are being felt now and the science is clear: this is a crisis that is going to get much worse unless industrialised countries like Australia take immediate and strong action. In the absence of such action, children and young people are entitled to express their concerns and protect their future."
In Sydney, the School Strike for Climate rally will take place in Townhall Square on Friday 15 March 2019 at 12 noon.
"Schools have a responsibility to educate students about what is happening in the world around them. It is reasonable for these informed students to then make a choice to act on their concerns. As such, the ERC encourages all schools to view the rally as an important learning opportunity and enable students to attend" said Mr Glendenning.
"Not only will climate change impact on Australian young people's future, it will have tragic consequences for some of the poorest people in the world, such as the Pacific islands of Kiribati and Tuvalu" continued Mr Glendenning.
Maria Tiimon, an I-Kiribati woman and Pacific Calling Partnership Outreach Officer at the ERC, has been invited to speak at the 15 March Sydney rally.
"Climate change increasingly poses a big threat to all humanity. I have more than 20 nephews and nieces and a son who is five years old back home in Kiribati. This young generation are not the future, they are the youth of today and they are the NOW. So in order to have their prosperous and a beautiful bright future, we must act on CLIMATE CHANGE NOW. We must wake up to the savage urgency of the NOW" said Ms Tiimon.
Scientists have predicted that low lying atolls such as Tuvalu will become uninhabitable within 30 years times due to the impacts of climate change (see http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/4/eaap9741).
"Children and young people understand that this is a crisis. This rally provides an important opportunity for Members of Parliament to respond to their concerns." concluded Mr Glendenning.
Media Enquiries:
Phil Glendenning- ERC Director- 0419 013 758
Maria Tiimon, Pacific Calling Partnership Outreach Officer- 0420 506 950
Corinne Fisher, Coordinator Pacific Calling Partnership- 0421 831 889
For more information about the rally go to:
https://www.facebook.com/StrikeClimate
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