Summary:
At the UN Climate Change COP24 Conference, Greta Thunberg, a 15 years old activist made a speech after starting the movement Friday’s for future, a climate strike she leads every friday to manifest to political leadership and adults the necessity and urgency of tackling climate change so as not to be “robbed of her future” . She became the leader of her generation, inspiring young people across the world to join her strike movement every Friday instead of going to school.
On the 15th of March an international protest movement gathered young people in more than 1,200 cities in at least 92 countries across six continents. This young generation will be directly affected by climate change, and they have realized that and taken action. They are organizing protests and actions, leading sustainable projects and changing their habits. What they are doing for their age is impressive.
We started with their personal history, their motivations, their views and actions that led them to mobilize on climate change. All of them highlight the coherence of teenage participation in the climate movement. It is “not only for the planet but also for our lives” (Eowyn). Elsa reminded us that throughout history particularly in the USA in most of social change movements young people were in frontlines. And as Malina said, young people under 18 are not able to vote, action and mobilization is one of the few ways they actually get to voice their opinions.
In a second part, we discussed the challenges they face as politically active young people. The balance is globally positive but the speakers have experimented defiance from adults and politicians because of their age. They were not taken seriously or not considered mature enough on occasions. It was also interesting to see the difference between countries, as this children’s movement has had a warmer reception and support from society in germany than in the US.
They also discussed the tensions that could arise because of their activism with their family, as Eowyn gave the example, that they do not believe in climate change causes by human activities. Elsa also pointed out how complex it can be sometimes to manage her commitment with her school time, but also insisted that if she can do it , alla adults and people can. Eowyn decided to stop her studies to act for climate, saying “education can wait but not the climate crisis”. They all emphasized the knowledge they are gaining while acting for climate. For Malina, she learnt so much more about climate change in her organization than at school. Finally they talked about the “many ways to join the huge movement” (Malina) and gave word of encouragement and advice to our audience, for the young tha want to join the movement and for adults that wish to support them.
In conclusion this webinar was an open call for young people to dare mobilize, and give time to the climate crisis and for adults to step up, listen to these young activists, get informed, vote for candidates that really tackle climate change and support them financially in these endeavours.
Speakers:
Elsa Mengistu is a young climate activist that works with the Zero Hour movement in the USA.
Malina Aniol is a young climate activist that work with the Plant-fort-the-Planet organization in Germany and that leads social media information to educate adults to vote for candidates that support addressing climate change in the European elections.
Eowyn Soran started as an activist and now works as an outreach coordinator for Our Children’s Trust, the organization that leads and supports de Juliana vs. US government et al. lawsuit that is suing the federal government and their representatives arguing that the government violated the youths’ rights by encouraging and allowing activities that significantly harmed their right to life and liberty, and is seeking the government to adopt methods for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
