It can’t be said too often. It is children who will bear the consequences of the climate change their parents and grandparents treated too lightly or ignored.
School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C), the largest youth-led climate organisation in Australia, recently partnered with CHEP to encourage school-aged kids to skip classes and attend a nationwide climate protest.
To make their voices heard and excuse their absence from school, SS4C and CHEP created The Climate Doctor’s Certificate. It was a sick note signed by a different kind of doctor, prominent climate PhDs including Dr David Karoly, councillor on the Climate Council of Australia and professor emeritus at the University of Melbourne; and Dr Nick Abel, honorary associate professor at Australian National University College of Science.
The campaign was built off the back of climate protests in Australia in 2019 that caused students to be punished by their schools for taking the day off school. This year, the Climate Doctor’s Certificate gave them official permission to skip classes.
School Strike 4 Climate spokesperson, Joey Thompson (16), said, “In Australia, we’re all too familiar with dangerous heat waves and bushfires, and the Australian Federal Labor Government is failing young people by approving new coal and gas projects. The Climate Doctor’s Certificate helped more students attend the rally, fight for a fossil fuel free future and have their voices heard.”
Dr Karoly added, “This fight is the most important one that we’ll fight in this lifetime or next. We’ve left a mess for the younger generations, and we all need to do our part to support them in ensuring there’s hope in the future that lies ahead of them. That’s why I put my name down as a signatory of the Climate Doctor’s certificate, and why I’ll continue standing side-by-side with these incredible students as we fight for climate action.”
Glen Dickson, deputy chief creative officer at CHEP, commented, “No one should be punished for protesting. Especially young people who are passionate about the future of the planet we all share. The Climate Doctor’s Certificate gave them an official excuse to take a sick day to march for a sick planet.”
After years of declining coverage of climate protests, the sick note fired up both sides of the media. So that before students had marched out of the classroom to make their voices heard, their sick notes were already protesting for them. In one week, the campaign reached 2.1 billion impressions across 26 countries totalling $58 million in earned media value – all with $0 media spend.
