Foreign Correspondent: Oct 1

Following Greta Thunberg’s profile appearance at the United Nations, Foreign Correspondent presents “Climate Kids” by reporter Barbara Miller.

It started with a single protestor. Just over a year ago, Greta Thunberg began staging lone school strikes in front of Sweden’s parliament to draw attention to the problem of climate change. This week, the movement Greta inspired has organised protests attended by millions around the world.

How did this happen? And who are the young activists behind this new global movement?

Foreign Correspondent’s Barbara Miller gets special access to three activists in three continents as they mobilise the public to pressure politicians to take urgent action on global warming. She follows them as they prepare for a United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York by staging climate strikes across the globe.

In New York, we see them in action as they front up to some of the world’s most powerful leaders. “You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,” Greta cried at the UN. “How dare you?”

The words are powerful, but can these climate kids make a difference?

Berlin

Twenty-three-year-old Luisa Neubauer is one of the faces of Europe’s ‘school strike for climate’ movement. A year ago, she was studying geography at university. Now she’s working full-time as a climate activist.

“We are rushing towards…an ecological crisis”, Luisa warns. “We need a government to provide a plan on how to reach the 1.5 Paris agreed target and then show that they are willing to act on it.”

It’s a grueling schedule. Luisa juggles the logistical demands of organising and fronting regular demonstrations across Germany – called ‘Fridays for Future’ – along with constant media appearances and travel.

“Every minute that I’m not on my phone is a minute I have to spend on it some other time” says the exhausted media star.

While Greta Thunberg inspired her, Luisa says she plays a different role. “What Greta does is extraordinary. It is also unique… What we do is build a movement, so we bring together tens thousands of young people…which I think is a different job description.”

New York

Fourteen-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor is a New York based climate activist who’s taken a leaf out of Greta’s protest book. Once a week, Alexandria takes her handmade sign to a lone sit-in protest in downtown Manhattan.

She’s become a mini celebrity, posting selfies on social media to her growing number of followers and inspiring the groups of school kids who keep her company on her vigil.

Like many in this new protest movement, Alexandria is on a steep learning curve. We follow her and her mum as they get advice from a branding expert. He advises against using printed signs to avoid the impression that “somebody’s funding this” and counsels not to hog the limelight, so she “can always point to that and say it’s not about me.”

When Greta sails into New York, there’s a media scrum at the docks, and Alexandria is front and centre of the welcoming party.

Alexandria has also been swapping notes with another activist in Sydney, Jean Hinchliffe.

Sydney

Fifteen-year-old Jean Hinchliffe is under pressure. She’s organising Sydney’s climate strike rally, and she’s late for school, again. Her mum is also quizzing her about who she’ll be staying with in New York. She doesn’t know.

We follow Jean in the lead up to the Sydney climate march, as she worries about the turnout. When a huge crowd rallies on the day, Jean steps onto the stage without looking back. “This. Is. An. Everybody. Issue!” she yells. “And we demand change!”

“I don’t feel like it’s my daughter”, says her mum watching on. “It’s just someone else up there who’s such a great speaker.”

UN Meeting

On a high from the success of the global strikes, the activists meet in New York for the very first time. They also come face to face with the enormity of the challenge: how to transform a world economy hooked on carbon.

It’s hard to measure their impact in policy outcomes, but it’s clear they’ve have caught the world’s attention and their confidence is growing.

“We expect the world leaders to…listen to our demands, and if they do not it will just fuel our fire”, says Alexandria.

“We’re not going to let them sit around again,” says Jean.

8pm AEST Tuesday 1st October on ABC.