Lucy Gray (born December 2006) is a New Zealand

climate change activist Individual action on climate change can include personal choices in many areas, such as diet, travel, household energy use, consumption of goods and services, and family size. Individuals can also engage in local and political advocacy around issu ...

and singer-songwriter.

Biography

Lucy Gray is a student at the Hagley School of Music in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, and was previously a student at

Ao Tawhiti Ao Tawhiti or Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery (abbreviated "ATUD") is a state area school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was established by the merging of two separate Christchurch inner city schools; the primary school Discovery 1 (unofficiall ...

school, and

Cashmere High School Cashmere High School ( mi, Te iringa o Kahukura) is a state coeducational secondary school, located in southern Christchurch, New Zealand. It was opened in 1956 in response to population growth in southern Christchurch during the 1950s. The sch ...

. She is a national chairperson of School Strike 4 Climate activities, including marches for school students to join. Gray is also a singer-songwriter who released her first single "Your Name" in 2022. Since 2023, Gray has been releasing singles with producers Andy and Vic Knopp as part of her upcoming EP.

Climate activism

As part of Gray's advocacy for the climate, three marches were scheduled to happen in 2019, on 15 March (which was abandoned for safety reasons due to the

Christchurch mosque shootings On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks, carried out by a lone gunman who entered both mosques during Friday prayer, began at the Al Noor Mosque ...

), 24 May, and again on 27 September. A fourth, indoor protest took place in May 2020, while New Zealand was in lockdown due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In May 2019, Gray met with Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...

to discuss the government's plans to manage the climate change crisis. She has spoken at the 2019 National Young Leaders Day, 2019 Festival For the Future, and at TEDx Youth@Christchurch. In early 2020, she was a reader at the ''1.5 Degrees Live!'' event. She will be a keynote speaker at the online 2020–2021 Aotearoa New Zealand

Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...

Summit. Gray names

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3 January 2003) is a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation. Thunberg's activism began when she persuaded ...

, Swedish climate change activist, as one of her role models and inspirations. She is the author of "Rise up", a climate change protest anthem.

Music

Other than writing the song "Rise Up" (which was not released as a single), Gray has released multiple singles, the most recent of which is "paranoia of the mind", which released on 26 April 2024, and reached number 5 on the Hot NZ Singles Chart. "paranoia of the mind" is the last single before the release of her EP. On 5 July 2024, Gray released her EP "whole life waiting", with funding from the

New Zealand on Air NZ On Air (NZOA; mi, Irirangi te Motu), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for funding support for broadcasting and creative works. The commission oper ...

New Music Development grant. On this EP is the previously unreleased track "running through my mind".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Lucy Living people 2006 births New Zealand climate activists New Zealand environmentalists New Zealand women environmentalists People from Christchurch New Zealand child activists Youth climate activists People educated at Ao Tawhiti People educated at Cashmere High School