SWEDISH school student Greta Thunberg addressed adults at a United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland last year and in a few short minutes shamed the world, on behalf of children.
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She was clear, concise and her message was confronting to the generations before her who have failed to respond to mounting evidence of climate change.
"We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. We have come here to let you know change is coming whether you like it or not," Ms Thunberg said.
The global movement that started with Ms Thunberg staging a strike from school each week gained support from students around the world, including Australia. On Friday children took to the streets in Australia, Europe, and across the American, Asian and African continents, supported by adults who want action, but who despair of politicians standing up for change.
Leading Coalition Government moderate Christopher Pyne distinguished himself with a lawyer's response to the students' engagement with the political process about the future they're going to have to live in.
"Usually strikes are when employees withdraw their labour from an employee so I'm not sure why the students are withdrawing themselves from school. It only damages their education," Mr Pyne said, in a comment that suggests he was wearing a suit and tie and carrying an appointment diary while still in kindergarten.
Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon got the mood right and acknowledged students' need to express their mounting concerns in the public realm. He also crushed Pyne's argument about the "damaged education" that would flow from a few hours at the strike.
"I don't think any student is going to miss out on their career because they missed a few hours of school today. As long as they are safe and their parents know where they are and they are marching or protesting in a respectful way, in a responsible way, I think that is fine," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
While Friday's strike was overshadowed by the tragic New Zealand shootings, the students have made clear their demand for a global response to climate change will continue, and grow.
"You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to us children," she told adults at the UN conference.
And she is right.
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