How the Youth Climate Movement Has Inspired Us

Photograph of children at a protest with title 'How the youth climate movement has inspired us'

The youth climate movement has been a constant source of inspiration for us. From Greta and the #FridaysForFuture campaign to the endless enthusiasm for a better tomorrow, it is the young people that give us hope.

The Next Generation

We often speak about how our own daughter made us start to think about the future of the planet. We brought her into this world we love, and we want it to be a beautiful place for her to grow in. Matilda is just one of millions of children and young people with their whole lives ahead of them. Adults often try to dictate to younger generations, telling them what they should and should not be doing. But today, it is our children that are telling us that they need us to change.

Friday 25th September, 2020 is another milestone in the youth climate action calendar. It is a global day of climate action driven by young people and we should be listening. Greta Thunberg has become an icon of the movement but there are countless brave and inspiring young people doing the same work. Ultimately, their fight has become our fight, and we stand in solidarity with them to campaign for a stop to ecocide.

Definition of ecocide from Merriam Webster

The Infectious Positivity of Youth Climate Action

One brilliant project we’ve come across to build momentum for the next bout of global climate action is a song called ‘Long Forgotten Road‘ by Scilla Hess. It is actually the work of three musicians, as Hess collaborated with Ellie Wyatt and Jonathan Owusu-Yianomah. In January 2020, Eco Action Families worked with the Extinction Rebellion film crew to produce a music video for the song featuring children from Brighton which really encapsulates the youth climate movement.

The song launched on September 18th and we’re sure you’ll love the vibe!

These are the little people who will inherit the world we made. They have no power in society and they have a future that is clouded win uncertainty, so they are telling us that they need our help! We have seen things like:

  • Children striking from school
  • Kids marching at protests
  • Two young girls petition to have McDonald’s and Burger King stop providing plastic toys
  • A single teenager from Sweden challenge the world’s most powerful leaders when no-one else will

The climate action of September 25, 2020 is all about the energy of these children. Our children. They are crying out to us to listen to the science and make changes to our lives and our world – the world that they will inherit. The solutions are there, but too many of us are clinging to outdated, harmful technologies and infrastructure that holds them back.

By the way, you can also listen to ‘Long Forgotten Road‘ on Spotify:

Inspiration

We don’t want to sound like we’re preaching or “virtue-signalling”. Perhaps the science is wrong and our impact on the changing climate is not significant. But these children are asking us not to gamble with their futures.

Maybe reducing the CO2 output of food, energy, transport and every other aspect of society won’t slow global warming. Maybe removing all the unnecessary plastic in everything we consume won’t stop millions of species from going extinct. And maybe putting a stop to all the unnecessary toxic chemicals we offload into ecosystems won’t stop animals and people from being poisoned by their surroundings. Those all sound like pretty far-fetched ‘maybes’ to me, but let’s just play Devil’s advocate.

Don’t you think a world where nature is allowed to flourish would be better? A world where the exhaust fumes and noise pollution of billions of petrol-powered cars is no more. Where the oceans are not the final resting place of trillions of discarded plastic items. And where entire ecosystems are not destroyed for the purpose of farming more for our insatiable appetites.

We dream of smaller living that is kinder to the planet. It isn’t a radical idea – humanity thrived for thousands of years before the industrial revolution. And now we have the opportunity for a new industrial revolution based on sustainable resources and infrastructure that preserves our natural surroundings and enhances our own lives.

We just need to shift our thinking a little.

Get Involved in the Youth Climate Movement

If you are like us, and you find the passion and hope of our young people infectious, you can help. The ‘Long Forgotten Road’ campaign provides instructions on how you can contribute to the climate action of September 25, 2020. It’s just a few simple things you can do on social media, but it will make a big difference.

You can also help by signing the international petition for ecocide law. And if you want to learn a little about changes you can make to your lifestyle to live more sustainably, we’d love you to follow our journey and learn with us. Kaya does an amazing job on our Instagram page and we’d love you to follow us on there and get in touch. We’re just a normal family too – there’s nothing exceptional about us. But we’re learning alongside an amazing community of like-minded people who will be very welcoming if you want to join.

We hope to see you soon!

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