PROTESTING is one of the many activities affected by Covid-19.

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Last Friday, a national day of action was planned by the School Strike 4 Climate group to protest the Federal Government’s announcement about relying on gas to help the economy recover.

The campaign was primarily online, using Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and the day finished with an online rally.

To spread the message, protesters across the country used the hashtag #Fundourfuturenotgas, with the potential to reach almost half a million users, while local protestors used #Buildcoffsfuture, which could engage more than 80,000 Twitter users.

Lulu Arraiza is one of the local concerned young people and has been involved with School Strike 4 Climate for more than a year.

She said that an outside action was planned but it was called off after some parents were notified by the police that there might be breaches of Covid-19 guidelines.

“Like a lot of other young people I am concerned about the environment being degraded,” she said.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild the economy without relying upon fossil fuels.”

Her group’s goals include protecting land for Indigenous people, creating sustainable jobs and moving towards 100 percent renewable energy.

She said that she felt that people who argue that young people should be at school have to start realising that millions of students across the world are taking the climate situation seriously and that they should too.

Lulu is concerned that there are people who misrepresent the facts in politics and the community, which minimizes the ability for action to be taken when it is really needed.

She referred to the 2018 Special Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change,

This report stated that limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to 2°C has clear benefits to both people and natural ecosystems.

“We are past the point of arguing and we need to take action,” said Lulu.

By Andrew VIVIAN