Every single time we
think about our planet we start wondering if in the future we will have a healthy
environment to live in, It is important to know that we do not have planet “b”,
it means we do not have another place to go, and the time for saving the only
one space for living is getting over. Nowadays is common to see thousands of
young people in the streets standing for a “climate action” or “climate justice”
as some of them have named it. Most of these young people are considered
activists that lead groups that are
interested in helping the environmental issues. But what is an activist? An
activist is a person who campaigns to bring about political or social change.
When we hear that children are the future of the world, it comes to our minds
the little or no voice they have to
defend what their inheritance will be, but apparently young activists have it
very clear. This is the reason why they are showing their discontent with the
world learders poor actions and their no attention to the critical situation of
our planet. Many of them manifest in their protests how imperative is to start
with climate finance, wildlife
protection, and environmental conservation right now.
Young Activists Around The World
One of the most famous
names the world have heard since August 2018 is the name of the young Swedish
climate activist Greta Thunberg because of the great impact her speeches about
the climate change have had among children and teenagers. Everything started
when this girl with only sixteen years old decided to raise her voice to
protest after the heat waves and wildfires during the Sweden’s hottest summer
in at least two hundred sixty two years. She decided to sit in front of the
parliament holding a sign that said “School Strike for Climate” that day she
posted a photo on her social media and more young activists joined her, making
her cause theirs. Her speech during the session of the 2018 United Nations
Climate Change Conference (COP24) went viral, telling the world leaders, they
were not mature enough to tell the truth. Since that moment she has joined
different protests in Europe and she has been invited to speak in different
conferences and parliaments. On
30 October 2021 she arrived at Glasgow Central station for the COP26. She spoke at some protests
during the COP, and marched in a Fridays for Future Scotland climate strike on
November 5th; she said in an earlier interview that the public needed to
"uproot the system". She delivered a speech to protesters in which she described COP26 as a failure,
speaking of "blah blah blah" and greenwashing.
Nowadays more young activists around the world
are motivating children in schools to do something for our planet, to take
action and be involved in this protests, keeping in mind that we do not have a
planet “b”, it is just this one and it is in danger. Children are the present
and future of the world so their voices must be heard at schools, at home, and
everywhere.
Lcda.
Narcisa Auria J.
