There’s nothing like the night of a bushfire
to really make you realise that climate change is real.
Bushfires in Australia destroyed lives, homes and wildlife last year.
Scientists have said that if the global temperature keeps rising…
then the hot dry weather that is likely to cause the fires…
could occur four times as often as it does now.
Airly's town, Mallacoota, was badly hit by the fires.
The first thing that I remember seeing
is the firestorm.
When there's a bushfire as bad as the one that came to Mallacoota,
the fire actually creates its own weather system.
We went outside and there were all these clouds building up
and there was lightning striking
and you could hear the thunder.
I just remember, like, thinking I'm literally in the middle
of a natural disaster
in this tiny, idyllic town.
I was volunteering with the paramedics.
We had a Snapchat group where people were telling
some of the kids that they could see their houses burning down.
My grandparents lost their home
so they were living with us
for a little while until they evacuated.
The UN wants countries to take urgent action…
to combat climate change.
We've never had one as bad as we do now
and all that I can connect to that is rising sea levels,
rising temperatures,
rising amounts of CO2 in the air.
Airly and her friends have organised school strikes…
protesting about a lack of action against climate change.
It does worry me that
there's a certain level of neglect
from people in power.
It also kind of inspires me to do
my own thing and try and help
in my own way as well.
In 2019, the UN said Australia is not on track…
to achieve its goal to reduce emissions by 2030.
But young activists like Airly are pushing for change.
Hi everyone, my name is Will Potter.
I'm a proud Gundungurra man.
Will is a climate justice activist campaigning for the rights…
of indigenous peoples in Australia.
Climate justice is a term that refers to
making sure that we are listening to the people who will be impacted worst.
Indigenous peoples of Australia do have a lot of solutions.
We've managed the country for tens of thousands of years,
particularly with fire management in that.
We could go a long way for climate action
by giving indigenous peoples extra rights over their country.
And that voice really isn't being heard.
Australia is one of the world's biggest…
per capita greenhouse gas emitters.
It's also one of the world's biggest exporters of coal.
My name is Ava Princi and I'm a 17-year-old climate activist
and I'm taking the government to court.
Ava is pushing to halt plans for a new coal mine in New South Wales.
I'm taking action because I'm really anxious about the opening
of a new mine in Australia,
as digging up and burning coal is the single largest contributor
to climate change.
We're already seeing the impacts of climate change in Australia.
We're facing a historic drought season, catastrophic bushfires,
degrading air quality, rising temperatures and increased flooding,
causing disproportionate harm to vulnerable communities.
Young people like me are especially vulnerable,
as we have no political power.
We can't vote, or run for elections.
Instead, we rely on adults to take care of the world we will inherit.
Approval for the mine was deferred while a trial took place.
The judgement is due soon.
So what do young activists say needs to change in Australia…
when it comes to tackling climate change?
There needs to be a better relationship
between young people
and the older generations, and politicians and scientists.
Personally, I'm a bit of an optimist,
and I think we can do it,
but it's just a matter of teamwork.
Project 17 was made in partnership with The Open University