
You’re going to be hearing the words “climate strike” a lot today. So what’s everyone talking about?
Well, thousands of Aussies are expected to leave work, school or universities – either for the day or for just an hour or two – to mark the inaugural Global Climate Strike, a movement that aims to force action on the climate crisis from governments, businesses and individuals.
Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra are hosting their own #climatestrike rallies, with smaller regional protests also being held in dozens of regional cities and towns.
In total, there will be just over 100 strikes happening in Australia alone, with over 120 countries across the globe participating.
Here’s everything you need to know about the day of action.
Watch environmental activist, Greta Thunberg’s UN climate change speech. Post continues after video.
How did the global climate strike happen?
We can thank 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, for inspiring this international day (and in fact, a whole week around the world) of action. In August 2015, the then 15-year-old sat in front of the Riksdag (the Swedish Parliament House) every school day for three weeks as a way to campaign against the lack of government-backed environmental action.