I went to the #FridaysForFuture #YouthStrike4Climate in Cape Town this Friday. This was a worldwide protest to demand more action from governments on climate change. It was inspired by Greta Thunberg, who I'm sure you've heard of by now, who walked out of school almost a year ago to protest for her future.
Young people all over the world, across 100 countries, took the the streets to demand more action is taken to tackle climate change. This is not to say that nothing is being done; it is. But it is not enough. And people have an increasing fear that the experts are being ignored. If the government won't listen to them, who will they listen to??
I truly believe we have no chance of combating climate change without a drastic shift from fossil fuels, to renewable energy. The IPCC have said we need renewable energies to be providing 85% of electricity by 2050, and coal usage gone. This is not what is happening.
The demands of this march from the organisers are for the government to declare a climate emergency, to teach the truth about climate change in schools, to communicate the crisis better to the public, and to bring the voting age down to 16 to recognise the stake young people have in our future.
I believe we all need to be demanding more from the government when it comes to climate change. It is THE greatest issue we have today, and have ever faced as a species. People's lives are at risk if we do not do something. Africa accounts for only 3.8% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, but Africa is far more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change than those countries responsible for the greatest greenhouse gas emissions.
Tackling climate change is an issue I think we can all get behind, no matter who you are. Somewhere along the line it has become a "left-wing" ideal to care about the environment. I think this is crap. Climate change will affect us all, whether you sit on the right or the left of politics, and so I think it should be something we all care about.
The focus of these protests must continue to be change the governments can make. There are lots of changes we as individuals can make: eat less/no meat and dairy, drive less, fly less, etc etc. But if the prime minister/president turned around and said "I'm going to become a vegan and that's my pledge to tackle climate change" I would not be satisfied. I would commend them, because that is a great thing, but that is not enough. We need green economies. We need renewable energies to provide much more electricity than they are.
I have great respect for all who protested yesterday (15 March 2019). That is a generation I am proud to be a part of.
I stand with Greta.
