Thousands of school students across New Zealand are calling for more action from the Government on climate change.
The protests today are a joint effort between groups School Strike 4 Climate and Fridays for Future.
"As we start off the year with the deadly floods in Tāmaki Makaurau and surrounding regions, it is more important than ever that we act now," strike organisers wrote on Facebook.
They say the recent flooding's shocked them and shows why their calls must be answered by the Government. (Source: 1News)
"Climate change is here and time is up... we cannot procrastinate on climate action."
The protesters' demands include no new exploration or mining of new fossil fuel resources, lowering the voting age to 16, increased marine protection in New Zealand's waters, e-bike rebates for lower-income families and support for regenerative farming.
In Wellington, protesters arrived at Parliament at 3pm.
The Green Party have backed the strikes.
"Quite frankly, we are running out of time and I am running out of patience. We need urgent action," co-leader James Shaw said today.
"What we decide to do next will shape the world our children will inherit from us."
And Te Pāti Māori wrote on Twitter this afternoon: "We mihi to the thousands of rangatahi who are marching across the motu today for climate justice.
"It's well past time that govt listened to these visionary young people."
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins earlier said: "If you look at the emissions reduction plans that we've already set out, you can see that we're making significant progress.
"Of course, we've still got some heavy lifting to do though, there's no question about that.
"The government's absolutely committed to doing it."
Events were scheduled for Auckland and Waiheke, Christchurch, Dunedin, Tauranga, Napier, Palmerston North, Nelson, New Plymouth, Queenstown, Wānaka and Kaitaia over the day.
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