The climate Injustice– The British Youth is Thinking Ahead

We have inherited a system which fuels the climate crisis that is threatening our future. We have done little to contribute to climate change, and yet we are going to suffer the consequences of it. Equally, the poorest children on Earth are nowadays suffering the worst impacts of a climate crisis that has been fuelled by the economy of the richest countries.

This is a climate emergency. Our youth strikes will continue until government takes notice and urgently acts to stop funding, subsidising and promoting fossil fuels, invests in community-owned renewable energy and includes the environmental crisis in our schools curricula. We demand system change, we demand climate justice.”

Damian Carrington

Cambridge Schools Eco Council

The strike by the British youth, of late, on climate change has drawn attention worldwide, may be raised some eyebrows too. The agitation, as observed through media channels looked like a very serious matter. Many were arrested to disperse the mob and to calm down the situation. To me, it looked very weird and I thought why the students are so agitated on an issue which is well known and well observed? There are plenty of days celebrated every year- Earth Day, Environment day, save Water Day etc to save the planet Earth. My thought process took a turn, perhaps in the right direction when I posted a few quotes on my Instagram account. It is happening like this in these summer days that we have morning sessions at all workplaces to get rid of the scorching heat, start the day at the earliest and enter into a safer zone called home, sooner in the afternoon. Returning back to home in this scorching summer is a punishment. Every day, when I come back from my workplace that I realise that we have not planted enough trees. The roads are deprived of a square inch of shades. The plants are seen in the Institutions but the houses in the colonies have not planted a single tree. It is like a desert with concrete jungles. I drive and look around in search of trees but in my dismay there is none. It irks the anger, the frustration as a concerned world citizen- why are we failing? There are plenty of environmental talks, lessons in textbooks, post-graduation courses, engineering courses on the environment, plenty of quotes if you surf the internet, so many days are observed- but why we still are searching for the shades in this hot summer? It seems, nobody cares!!

Why the planet is suffering? The causes are- population growth, fossil fuels burning, not taking resort in renewable energies, destruction of nature, fewer trees are planted, air and water are getting poisoned, people’s greed to live luxuriously or overconsumption, so on and so forth. Who can check the destruction of nature, can preserve water and air, can go for sustainable living? Obviously the Government of every country. If the strict rules are implemented then the citizens will follow. There must be continuous advertisement by the government about the preservation of this planet. And some small groups of people also must take the initiative to solve the problem. What are we failing to understand is- our survival depends on the survival of this planet. Otherwise, this planet Earth has every right to live without pollution. What mankind must realise is that human beings cannot live without the mother Earth but the planet can live without humans. If the pollution goes unabated, we might have to bow down in front of nature’s fury. The end is not far.