Students meet mayor ahead of climate strike

The four students – Evie Dummer, 17, Theodora Clarke-Wallace, Daphne Kendrick and Made Newson, all 16 – met mayor Sophie Barker on July 28 to find out how to get the youth voice heard by the Dunedin City Council.

The students asked Ms Barker a series of questions. They wanted to know what was preventing the council meeting the 2030 net zero carbon emissions target, what the new plan for lowering emissions was and what was stopping the council from rolling back on any future targets. 

The students also pressed the mayor on how involved the Dunedin Youth Council was with the council in terms of policy development and whether their input was taken into account. 

The meeting lasted a long time, with more questions given to Ms Barker, and ended with hope for more meetings in the future. 

Daphne said the experience was great, and it was exciting that it sounded to her as if the council was willing to meet them more in the future. 

The School Strike for Climate on July 31 was set to involve students from all over Dunedin walking out of school and meeting in the Octagon to demand urgent government action – local and national – on climate change. This strike is specifically in opposition to the Fast-track Approvals Bill. 

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Dunedin mayor meets student climate activists ahead of strike (By Laine Priestley/Otago Daily Times)