The climate crisis is both the easiest and the hardest issue we have ever faced. The easiest because we know what we must do. We must stop the emissions of greenhouse gases. The hardest because our current economics are still totally dependent on burning fossil fuels, and thereby destroying ecosystems in order to create everlasting economic growth.
We are living in the beginning of a mass extinction and our climate is breaking down.
We should no longer measure our wealth and success in the graph that shows economic growth, but in the curve that shows the emissions of greenhouse gases.
Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come.
To do your best is no longer good enough. We now have to do the seemingly impossible.
We can't just continue living as if there was no tomorrow, because there is a tomorrow.
We all have a choice. We can create transformational action that will safeguard the living conditions for future generations. Or we can continue with our business as usual and fail.
I thought I couldn't make a difference because I was too small.
We can no longer save the world by playing by the rules.
I am an introvert; privately I am very shy, and I don't speak unless I have to.
There are thousands of ways to take action. For example, plant trees, pick up litter, join an organisation or movement that makes a difference and especially try to influence adults and put pressure on people in power.
Of course, individual change doesn't make much difference in a holistic picture... but we need both systemic change and individual change.
Social media can be very effective in creating movements. In the beginning, that is how I first got attention.
I remember when I was younger, and in school, our teachers showed us films of plastic in the ocean, starving polar bears and so on. I cried through all the movies. My classmates were concerned when they watched the film, but when it stopped, they started thinking about other things. I couldn't do that. Those pictures were stuck in my head.
The real danger is not inaction. The real danger is when politicians and CEOs are making it look like action is happening when in fact nothing is being done.
I'm telling you there is hope. I have seen it, but it does not come from the governments or corporations. It comes from the people.
You can rebel in different ways. Civil disobedience is rebelling. As long as it's peaceful, of course.
At first when I heard about climate change, I was a climate denier. I didn't think it was happening. Because if there really was an existential crisis like that, that would threaten our civilisation, we wouldn't be focusing on anything else. That would be our first priority. So I didn't understand how that added up.
We have to understand what the older generation has dealt to us, what mess they have created that we have to clean up and live with.
Solving the climate crisis is the greatest and most complex challenge that homo sapiens have ever faced. The main solution, however, is so simple that even a small child can understand it. We have to stop our emissions of greenhouse gases.
