The Climate Crisis Is a Human Crisis
At COP26 [the November 2021 United Nations climate conference] a panel was looking for a young person to participate in it. The theme was important though academically and inaccessibly worded: “Tackling climate change needs civil society: insights on public engagement for climate action.” I would have phrased it as “We need each other. How do we get people to start moving to end the climate crisis?” I said I could speak on that but that I would also like to give the opportunity to a woman and/or someone of the Global Majority. M— decided she wanted to speak, too, and we decided to do it together. We spoke about what we thought needed to be said in this panel, and we spoke as the only two young people on the panel. The following is some of what I said:
We young people are already at the forefront of the climate movement and have been at the forefront of every progressive movement.
The climate crisis is a human crisis. It is people losing their crops, losing their homes and their land, losing their future and their lives. A human crisis needs human solutions. Racism, sexism, and the inequality in the world must be addressed so that we can work together to end this crisis. More knowledge and innovations will be important, but we know enough. We know enough about what is going on [happening]. We know enough of what we need to do. We know how serious the situation is and that we must start solving it now. Young people are good at finding human solutions. We laugh and have fun in the toughest times.
The language of politicians and scientists is not how people speak. It is not the language of young people; it is not the language of working people. That’s a problem. It is possible to explain climate change to a three-year-old. We just have to take our time and find the right words. After we talk about the climate crisis, we must listen and stand ready to help. A child who hears about something like this will likely want to act. We must be ready to support them, stand by their side, and remove barriers that get in the way.
It’s time to listen to young people. It’s time to listen to Indigenous people. It’s time to listen to people in the global South. It’s time to listen to women.
Groningen, the Netherlands
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders in care of the environment
(Present Time 207, April 2022)