Students took to the streets to draw immediate attention to the world’s climate crisis. In Ballarat, more than 500 youth marched through the city brandishing placards and calling for immediate action on climate change.

Organised by Ballarat student Anna Burnett, the march was facilitated to indicate to the federal government that climate change needs to stop being politicised, while creating a climate change policy should be a priority.

The protest comes after the United Nations released a report in September highlighting Australia was not on track to meet its target of reducing its emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030 as per its pledge at the Paris Agreement.

A number of students travelled from Hepburn Shire to attend the day of action. Year nine student Tasha Robinson said she wanted to see climate change policy implemented because it determined the future of the planet, while Zari Brosolo said she wanted to see more people caring about the earth and less about money.

“Instead of supporting coal mining and oil we need to take action now. We can’t ignore it. There is no time to waste,” she said. 

“It was wonderful to see so many young people come together as one to fight for our rights to have a future.”

Holly Hartnup reiterated this.

“It is disgraceful how politicians are treating our planet so wanted to be involved. It was really great to see that there are so many people who care about the planet, not just here, but all over Australia.”

Moving forward, Ani Wade said she would really like to see more wind and solar power across the nation. 

“We’ve got a few wind turbines but it would be great to see them all over the country. They are everywhere in Europe so it would be great to see us using more and less coal to power energy.”

The students all agreed that they would really like to learn more about climate science in school.