Young Aussies are set to protest for three straight days in multiple cities this week, demanding that the federal government create a genuine climate plan for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to take to the COP 26 summit in Glasgow next week.
Led by the Tomorrow Movement, protests and vigils will be held in Wollongong, Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra this week, with a 24-hour, overnight camp-out happening in Wollongong, to really drive home their belief that the current target of 2050 is too late.
“Scott Morrison will attend the COP climate summit next week with no meaningful plan,” Desiree Cai from the Tomorrow Movement said.
“While the government has wasted time bickering over distant 2050 targets, it’s never been more urgent to take action solving climate change now.”
The protesters are demanding the government create a Climate Jobs Guarantee, which would involve the government filling the gap of the private sector, creating more public jobs to help create a renewable energy grid, improve the country’s climate sustainability, and better prop Australia up for climate disasters like the devastating Black Summer bushfires.
“We are demanding a Climate Jobs Guarantee, a transformative plan to solve the biggest challenges our generation faces by creating thousands of good jobs in the industries needed to decarbonise our society. Our recent survey found 94% of young people want the government to create good jobs solving the climate crisis,” said Desiree.
“Climate action will make our lives better immediately, and in the long-term. We are protesting because 2050 is too late, we won’t let our politicians delay any longer.”
Protests are kicking off at Melbourne’s Parliament House steps from 9am on Monday, and will run through to 8pm for three days. Sydney’s protest will meet daily at the Queen Victoria Building statue, starting with a candle-lit vigil on Monday from 5pm, and then gathering from 11.30am to 3.30pm on Tuesday and Wednesday.
If you’re in Wollongong, the overnight protest begins on Tuesday arvo at 2pm at the Wollongong lighthouse, and will run for a full 24 hours. At around midday on Wednesday, the protesters are set to be joined by other community members for a rally from 12pm.
The Canberra protest is set to run much the same as Sydney’s, with a candle-lit vigil at Haig Park from 5pm on Monday, and then daily morning protests on Tuesday and Wednesday, culminating in a rally march to Parliament House from 11am on Wednesday to take the group’s demands to Morrison.
