Climate change was the unifying force Friday, as hundreds of young people marched along Government Street and rallied at the legislature in one of several youth “strikes” across the country.
Among the youngest and most enthusiastic participants Friday were 11 students in Grades 3 and 4 who are part of the Green Team, an environmental club at Macaulay Elementary School.
“They didn’t have to come — they all wanted to come,” said teacher Anik Pommier. Pommier said the club has done composting and made videos to raise awareness in the school about recycling.
Some older students chose to miss school and join their peers in a plea for action. Signs were plentiful, with sayings such as “I Bet Dinosaurs Thought They Had Time” and “Make the Earth Great Again.”
Youth were part of a similar event at the legislature March 15, when students in more than 100 countries gathered to protest lack of action on climate change.
Key organizers this time included 16-year-old Emma-Jane Burian and 13-year-old Rebecca Wolf Gage, outfitted in green clothing with green-tipped hair. Both referenced the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warned last fall that only about dozen years were left to prevent irreversible damage from climate change.
The pair used Facebook, Instagram and connections with schools and teachers to draw participants to the rally, Burian said.
“We’re here because governments are not acting as much as they should and we want to show that youth care about climate change,” she said. “And we will take governments down that don’t care about climate change in the next election.”
In an earlier speech to the crowd, she demanded that governments and policy-makers stop making excuses not to act, saying: “We don’t have time. This is not a partisan issue.”
“There are green jobs that can be guaranteed and acting on climate change will strengthen our economy.
“It is going to take each and every one of us, but we all have everything it will take and we will never, ever give up.”
Gage said school is less important than fighting for action on climate change. “Because if our future is dying, then we shouldn’t be studying for a dead future — we should be acting to save our future.”
As temperatures increase, she said, we can expect many more fires, storms, droughts and disasters. “I won’t allow my kids to ask me what nature was because my government didn’t have enough sympathy, courage and compassion to save it.”
Others speakers included Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, who praised the rally-goers.
“It’s important that we’re here today protesting, it absolutely is,” Helps said. “What I am so proud of and what I am so hopeful about is that with your energy, your efforts, your enthusiasm and with [adult] support, we will defeat climate change.”
Her suggestions for simple steps to combat climate change included taking the bus, cycling and walking whenever possible. Helps also touted free transit for youth — which the city wants to pay for with downtown Sunday street-parking fees, which come into effect this weekend.
Helps pointed to another idea that came up at a discussion group she hosts: not eating meat on Mondays. “If every single person in this region doesn’t eat meat just for one day a week for one year, it reduces our carbon pollution by 72,000 tonnes.”
