'I am missing my science class for this': Students strike for the climate

Year 13 Mount Maunganui College student Zoe de Malmanche. Photo / Andrew Warner

"The earth is getting hotter than my imaginary boyfriend" and "I am missing my science class for this" were some of the stand-out signs students held high while striking for their climate.

Hundreds of Tauranga students marched from the city's waterfront to the council chambers and back again as part of the third School Strike 4 Climate NZ.

The students chanted "What do we want? Climate action! When do we what it? Now!" as they moved through the streets.

One person was dressed in a gorilla costume holding a sign that read "Dude, where's my forest?" and two dogs wore signs with the words "I want to eat hotdogs, not be one".

Dog owner Alice Sea said she was at the protest "to save the planet" and had brought her border collie Aya and chocolate labrador Morena along with her.

Mount Maunganui College student Ruhith Pathirana said he and his sustainable science classmates were marching "because we care about the climate".

"From all of the learning we have done we think it is important we show we are here and we care. We want the people in power know we care."

Hundreds of students attended the climate strikes. Photo / Andrew Warner

Tauranga Girls' College student Ivy Anderson, 14, said she was striking "for our future".

"Everyone of all ages needs to take serious action," she said.

Jasmine Gee, 27, said she was there to support the youth. She was wearing a mermaid costume named Lady Oceania.

"This is something I am hugely passionate about," she said.

Year 13 Mount Maunganui College student Zoe de Malmanche, who was one of the School Strike 4 Climate Tauranga conveners, lead the chanting from the front of the hikoi.

The 17-year-old said she was "super stoked" with how many people had turned up to the protest.

"I am really impressed with Tauranga's efforts. We want people to start thinking, 'Our house is on fire and we need to start acting like it'."

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish teen who started the climate movement, shared a video of the Tauranga strike on her Facebook page.

Tauranga #Climatestrike #Fridaysforfuture

Posted by Greta Thunberg on Thursday, 26 September 2019

Bay of Plenty Regional Council deputy chairwoman Jane Nees, Labour list MPs Angie Warren Clark and Jan Tinetti and Tauranga City Council deputy mayor Kelvin Clout attended the strikes.

Heidi Hughes, a member of the transport advocacy group Greater Tauranga and Glen Crowther of the Sustainable Business Network, were also there.

Some Mount Maunganui businesses also chose to shut for the afternoon to show their support for the students in their bid to urge the Government to take action.