I love our mateship and that in times of need, we stand together.

I love our diverse landscapes - the rainforests, woodlands, the deserts, the coral reefs and wetlands.

I love the species that only exist here and the pride our nation holds in its people and land.

But sadly, climate change threatens all of this.

As a high school student, I have only lived a short amount of time.

But in that time, I have already seen the beginning of the end.

I have seen local species become more and more rare outside a zoo.

I have seen people battle respiratory conditions caused by polluted air.

I’ve watched as people in my community have been forced to fight coal seam gas so our water is not poisoned.

I’ve watched as gaping holes have been made in the earth to mine a resource that has no economic future.

I wake every morning in a state that is 100 per cent drought declared.

I’ve seen my climate shift and felt the change through more extreme heatwaves.

I have seen our government axe policies that were made to protect my generation’s future. I’ve seen the failure to invest in solutions that would protect us and failure to prevent and prepare for the climate crisis.

And, like so many young people, this breaks my heart.

And that’s why, on the 30th of November, I’m joining hundreds of school students from across Australia in the School Strike for Climate.

We’re living in climate crisis but all our politicians can talk about is economic growth.

We can’t vote yet, so we are striking to make our voices heard.

We may be young but we know our future is at stake.

We need our politicians to help us move forward to renewable energy and away from coal and gas.

We need them to urgently stop the Adani mine, so that our precious Reef and climate have a fighting chance.

We need them to tax fossil fuel companies for polluting our world.

We need everyone to value our environment, water and land and realise that once it is gone, we don’t get it back.

Because, if we don’t act now, what will our children say about the legacy of generations before them who left a world of devastation?

Ruby Walker is the school captain of Inverell High School, NSW