How the youth is amping their voices to encourage impactful decisions to save our Earth
On February 15th, school students across the world, but predominantly centered in the UK, went on strike from school in order for their voices to be heard about the decisions to combat climate change. One iconic figure that is the face of the youth climate activism is a 16-year-old girl, Greta Thunberg.
She states in her speech “You are stealing our future”, ¨Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue making enormous amounts of money... It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few...You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes…”.
The initiative behind this global outrage is to protest the lack of effective action on climate change. The big question arises, will this accomplish anything, or is it just a poor explanation for kids to get out of school? Greta speaks her opinion on why she thinks the strike has value and importance in our world,
“Why should I be studying for a future that soon may be no more, when no one is doing anything to save that future? And what is the point of learning facts when the most important facts clearly mean nothing to our society?”
It seems that within our modernized and technological connected society, the future generation has introduced a new wave of activism. This generation of teens is constantly surrounded by political influences, and how the leaders’ of past generations decisions are affecting them. These protests contribute to the progression of bringing climate justice and better awareness to how if we don't notice the disasters of climate change, we can suffer tremendously (it could be said that we are already suffering from the consequences). Some goals that the protests urge for are:
The government should declare a "climate emergency"
It should also inform the public about the seriousness of the situation
The national curriculum should be reformed to include "the ecological crisis"
The age of voting should be lowered to 16 so younger people can be involved in decision-making around environmental issues.
So is any of this possible? If we remain quiet about the effects of climate change and ignore specifically human’s impact on the dangerous effects, the answer to that question is a confident “no”. But it's no doubt that our future generations are letting their voices be heard to make sure this issue does not get left behind in the dust. Despite politics, it is obviously so, and supported by scientific research, that the Earth is suffering from human activity. Climate change causes inequality on a global scale, and contributes to an increase in poverty. In fact, developing countries are experiencing the gruesome effects of climate change, and most of the time these cases are remained unnoticed and ignored.
Labour leader Jeromy Corbyn tweets,
“Climate change is the greatest threat that we all face but it is the school kids of today whose futures are most on the line. They are right to feel let down by the generation before them and it’s inspiring to see them making their voice heard today”
To learn more about the climate strike and it’s calls to action, visit:
https://globalclimateconvergence.org/climate-strike/