Our children are crying out – when will we listen? When will we learn?

At 14 years old I organised the recycling in my house. My father put the carefully sorted bags in the garage because there was no such thing as recycling. When the garage filled up he took the bags to the local landfill as there was nowhere else to take them. People regarded me as some sort of eccentric eco hippie because I wanted to cut down on waste to protect the planet.

Maybe back then there was an excuse for inaction – ignorance.

Now, we have all experienced the effects of climate change. To some it is annoying, to others it is life threatening. It will kill millions. It is a slow pandemic. In response to the most recent quick pandemic, governments found the money and acted fast to gain control. When the climate change pandemic becomes quick, we will be out of control and governments will not be able to get life back to “normal” – it will be too late.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. These inspiring young people haven’t and won’t give up that easily – so neither should humanity. The climate change pandemic needs you to change your habits right now, just like you were prepared to do for COVID.