May 23, 2019
Tiriti approach part of climate change demands
The group organising tomorrow’s second school strike for climate change action wants Te Tiriti o Waitangi to be part of any solution.
School Strike 4 Climate NZ coordinator Sophie Handford says the movement is gaining momentum as rangatahi learn to make their voices heard.
Demands being made include:
that Government acknowledges the magnitude of the climate crisis by declaring a climate emergency,
that any change must uphold democratic systems and obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi,
that parties in Parliament support passing an ambitious Zero Carbon Act that puts in place a legally enforceable plan to get to net zero carbon emissions by 2040,
and that the move to a post-carbon economy must be done through meaningful partnerships with communities, Tangata Whenua and youth to ensure a just transition and that no one is left behind.
"There’s a lot of, we feel at the moment, ticking boxes and doing that consultation to tick a box on a sheet to say it's done, but that's not to the way we see climate solutions going forward. There has to be meaningful consultation, there has to be co-development between Māori and Pākehā, they have to really take into consideration the concepts of kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga and all of that kind of stuff," Ms Handford says.
While some schools are threatening pupils with punishment if they strike, others are urging them to make their protest seen.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/schoolstrike4climatenz/events/
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