Friend,
I first felt the impacts of climate change when I was 5 years old.
It was 2009, and a storm of red dust was racing through the sky of Sydney. I woke up to see the world beyond my bedroom windows covered in a surreal red light. It was about to complete my first year of Kindergarten, but on that day I had to stay home. The windows and doors were closed to stop the outside air getting inside and hurting my lungs.
I grew up thinking that harsh summer heatwaves of Western Sydney were normal. That the air turned amber with bushfire smoke in every suburb, and the streets were made to be flooded every few years. It was only when I grew up and visited other parts of Sydney that I learnt it wasn’t normal. I would compare the temperatures in Blacktown and the CBD and I was shocked. My home in Western Sydney was vulnerable. I learnt that this was because of the urban heat island effect.
Climate change affects everyone differently. It hits us hard in Western Sydney, but it can be even worse in other parts of the world. My family in the Philippines have been facing destructive typhoons. Living in Australia my whole life, I acknowledge my privilege and safety not having to face the natural disasters my family in the Philippines do. But this unfairness makes me want to fight this injustice.
Striking gives me immense hope. It shows that it’s not just me, my family or my friends that are worried about climate change - people are listening. My community cares too. When adults support us I know we aren’t isolated. Join me on May 21 and support our fundraising efforts here.
Right now our government is preparing to give MILLIONS to the gas industry. We know that gas is bad for the environment, our health and our future. We need to band together as citizens of Australia, as citizens of this planet, and take action on May 21.
I want to stand in solidarity with First Nations people who are having their land fracked by gas companies. We have to call on our government to do better - and do better ourselves. I want to ask Australians everywhere to turn up on May 21 to call on our government to #FundOurFutureNotGas.
The government’s job is to represent the people – it’s time they listened to us and not the gas lobbyists risking our future.
There’s still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, but we must act now, and we must act together. On May 21, we are striking for First Nations led solutions, for a safe future for all of us. We won’t let our money fund dirty gas when it could be funding clean jobs and energy.
Together we can make a big difference.
David, 17 from Sydney
P.S Help us reach our goal here. We need funding to make sure our strikes are safe, accessible and as big as possible.