Hearing from the youth is always a challenge for councils, but sitting down with four teenage climate activists is a great start, Dunedin’s mayor says. 

On Tuesday, four Trinity Catholic College students, who are due to strike in the Octagon as part of the School Strike for Climate, met Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker to find out how to  get the youth voice heard by council.

The four students, Evie Dummer, 17, Theodora Clarke-Wallace, Daphne Kendrick and Made Newson, all 16, 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 her 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. 

“The challenge for council, as always, is to connect with young people.

“We don’t often hear young people’s voices around the council table, so it is super important — I think it was good to be able to discuss with them how we can get around the council table and have their voices heard as well,” Ms Barker said.

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. 

“It was just good to get to see an inside perspective of what they’re actually doing here and what they are working towards from the mayor herself.”

The School Strike for Climate on Friday will 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. 

laine.priestley@odt.co.nz