Whether as a rallying rebel or a lifestyle reformist, “we need everyone,” as Greta Thunberg says.

One year ago, Greta Thunberg started school striking for the climate outside the Swedish parliament, “simply because something had to be done,” as she tweeted on the one-year anniversary day, 20 August 2019. 

Since then she has continued doing this every Friday alongside more than a million of other school students. “And we will go on for as long as it takes,” says the persistent and perseverant climate action leader who is currently crossing the Atlantic in a zero-carbon sailboat, heading for the UN Summit in New York on 23 September.

Today, we are lucky to have one of the million schoolstrikers joining us here in the climate bunker: Caitlin Ramsay from AYCC Geelong, who is calling for residents of all ages to gather in front the Geelong City Hall on 20 September at 10am.

Together, we listen to an excerpt of a speech by Anya Bukholt as she informs the councillors of her city about what the youth wants – at the conference ‘Our City Tomorrow’ in Wellington in New Zealand.

Suzie Brown from Australian Parents for Climate Action gives us a parents’ perspective on the youth strike, which she sees as a global call to the state leaders who meet at the summit in New York three days later. The Australian prime minister, though, won’t be attending. He thinks little of the event and of the climate crisis, and only has an absolutely embarrassing story to tell the global leaders about the rising carbon emissions, which his government is responsible for, so he will not be attending the summit, even though, bizarely, he actually will be in that same city at the time. AP4CA are pushing for him to change his mind about all of this.

Roger Hallam, the British co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, was interviewed on BBC HardTalk – we listen to a one-minute excerpt.

Rupert Read shows us how he talks with children about the climate breakdown, and we listen to a shocking apple picker survival statement by the country’s deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack answering a question from Trudi Beck, a mum and GP, who joins us on the phone from Wagga Wagga. 

Richard Hamilton cycles in from Transition Avon Street in Geelong West to tell us more about his choice of transport and change of thinking as we launch the sixth episode of the ‘Show Me How’ series, today about carbonfree transportation.