Young people have been at the forefront of an amazing upsurge in grassroots climate activism over the past couple of years, speaking out at local protests, congressional hearings, and the most significant international conferences of our time. They deserve their well-earned place at the table, and they intend to stay there.
Why are today's youngsters so passionate about climate change, given the rise in youth activism?
The solution is mostly dependent on two elements. First, there is a growing need for justice across generations. Second, young people are realizing how closely tackling climate change is related to creating the world they want.
THE CALL FOR INTERGENERATIONAL JUSTICE
First things first, what is intergenerational justice?
Simply put, it’s the commonsense idea that future generations have the right to inherit a habitable planet. That is, one that hasn’t been stripped of all of its resources and seen its atmosphere polluted, and warmed past the point of no return.
Furthermore, it’s the idea that young people should have the same chance to discover the world and realize their dreams the way their parents and grandparents did – without seeing those dreams threatened by more frequent storms, rising seas, and fast-spreading disease.
But commonsense as this idea maybe be — to leave a planet as habitable as the one we entered — it’s hardly one we are honoring today, far from it. At our current emissions trajectory, we're driving directly toward the edge of a cliff at a speed that makes the injustice palpable. And nobody sees that injustice as clearly as young people.
THE CHANCE TO BUILD
Intergenerational justice is a key source of inspiration for the youth climate movement, but it’s not the only one. Increasingly, young people are recognizing that many climate solutions would — preventing climate catastrophe aside — simply make the world a better place.
In taking climate action, young people recognize we have the opportunity to:
- Create tens of millions of green jobs.
- Launch a clean energy revolution to secure a prosperous and energy-abundant future.
- Preserve the ecosystems and species of the world.
- Reduce pollution of our air, land, and water — improving health outcomes for millions around the world in the process.
- Create more livable cities and communities.
- End the fossil fuel pollution so many communities of color are disproportionally affected by.
In short, the opportunity to build a better world than one powered by dirty, greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels.
Young people are increasingly recognizing that the road of climate action and the road toward a healthier, more prosperous, and more equitable future are one and the same.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT FOR SOLUTIONS
No matter our age, we all have the power to stand up and make a difference on climate — for people today and tomorrow.
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