Gunnedah joined 55 towns around the nation in the School Strike 4 Climate on Friday.
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High school student Hugh Hunter led the charge to raise awareness of climate change, supported by about 30 people from Gunnedah, Baan Baa, Breeza, Boggabri, Narrabri and Walcha.
The strikers marched along Conadilly Street with signs and gathered at Wolseley Park to share their reasons for joining the movement, which is calling for for no more coal or gas, no Adani coal mine, and 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
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Hugh said the strike was a "challenge to Gunnedah" about an "important issue".
"This rally is about a cleaner future," he said.
"We're fighting for your future as well as ours because we want a world or our kids and grand kids to grow up in.
"We're showing the Gunnedah community, we're showing our MPs, that we care about climate change. We know what we want - we want a sustainable future.
"Hopefully, by power in numbers we'll get what we want."
Gunnedah High School student Marlie Thomas spoke on behalf of the Kamilaroi people and said "climate change is no longer a risk - it is a reality".
"The time to discuss is over and the time to act is now," she said at the strike.
"Many aspects of the Kamilaroi culture - our language, our songs, our traditional marriages, child-rearing and the treatment of older persons - are intimately linked with our lands and water and the spiritual ways in which we should live.
"How can my elders do ceremony and teach me about the lifeblood of our rivers and the critical importance of our fish, our bird life and our animals and plants if these are all dead?"
Red Chief Local Aboriginal Land Council's Mitchum Neave also shared his thoughts, saying climate change impacts housing, jobs, and welfare, and "we rely on resources in the outback that are drying up".
We're showing the Gunnedah community, we're showing our MPs, that we care about climate change.
- Hugh Hunter
Farmers for Climate Action member Andrew Burgess travelled from Walcha for the strike and said he had "exceptional admiration" for Hugh and his peers for "standing up for what they believe in".
Hugh's mother Sally also expressed her pride in the youth who attended.
"You're few but you're powerful," she said.
"Today gives me a lot of hope … You're absolute legends. You don't know, probably can't quite comprehend, why we feel so excited and hopeful to see you here today."
Hugh was thrilled with the turnout and said he would consider leading a strike again in the future.
"I was expecting four people to come here and all of those people were related to," he said.
"I'm just really happy people showed up."
