Protesters took to the city's streets to demand climate action on Friday, despite a large police presence at the Wollongong Global Climate Strike.
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At one stage police on horses forced people back into the mall after they congregated on the corner of Crown and Keira streets, holding up traffic.
Chanting slogans such as 'coal don't dig it, leave it in the ground and start to get with it', the activists also blocked traffic on the corner of Kembla and Crown streets.
Earlier in the afternoon it was a carnival atmosphere as about 200 people gathered at the Illawarra arts precinct to listen to musical acts and a number of speakers at the rally run by the Illawarra Climate Justice Alliance.
Professor Tim Flannery, one of Australia's leading writers on climate change, was the headline speaker at the Wollongong Global Climate Strike.
The internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist, who nowadays calls Thirroul home, said supporting the student strike for climate action was very important.
"It is important not just for me but for everyone because it is these young people's future we are talking about and we've got to start planning now to give them a decent future," Flannery said.
The rally formed part of a global day of action called for by Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement against continued political inaction to combat climate change and mitigate its negative impacts.
Flannery was "heartened" by the growing climate change movement.
"The world is changing, we are now looking at COP26 (the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November), and with [Joe] Biden in the White House and the Europeans doing what they are doing, I think we've got a chance for some really decisive action, but Australia needs to play its part," he said.
"I'd like to see all of these kids talk to their parents and just have a really honest discussion around the dinner table about whether their parents are doing the right thing for their kids' future.
"Doing the right thing means moving to clean energy sources, to the future energy sources that we are going to be using. It means supporting their government through the necessary climate actions that are going to happen."
Flannery was also heartened by some of the decisions involving various Illawarra industries.
"I think we've had some good decisions in terms of the Dendrobium extension, because that would have locked us into bad, bad pollution for another 30 years," he said.
"I think we are slowly heading in the right direction but we've got to move faster."
His views were backed by the other rally speakers.
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