Youths - Bearing the brunt of climate change

Singapore could hit 40 degrees Celcius by 2045. Heatwave hits Europe. Temperature in Anchorage, Alaska reaches an all-time high of 32 degrees Celcius. These were some of the latest headlines around the world - clearly, climate change is and has always been a worsening problem. It is apparent that despite our efforts to reduce the damage we had done to our environment and attempts in improving the situation have been far from effective. Temperatures continue to soar. Sea-levels continue to rise and soon enough, our planet could be inhabitable.

Perhaps one of the more ominous symbols of this crisis is the “Doomsday Clock”. Originally created as a warning to represent how close we were to our “Doomsday” as nuclear weapons proliferated, in recent years, climate change had been constantly added into consideration and as of January 2018, we are only 2 minutes from midnight, the closest it had ever been since 1953 when both the US and the Soviet Union tested their Hydrogen bombs. Evidently, we are once again inching towards success, that is in pushing ourselves over the cliff edge.

Youths are threatened

This is terrifying, especially for youths around the world, including me for we are the ones facing the full-blown effect of man-made climate change, be it rising sea levels, global warming, spread of infectious diseases and food shortages. We are placed in this desperate and unforgiving situation by the decision makers of current times but why is this so? Why is the younger generation forced to bear the responsibility of mistakes made now in the future? These were the questions in the minds of 21 youths & kids who sued the US federal government in 2015 - alleging that the government’s role in aggravating man-made climate change (through policies) violates their constitutional rights as the quality of living of future generations comes under threat. Yet, both the Obama and Trump administrations had/have been actively trying to dismiss the court case, arguing that the constitution does not have any provisions to ensure that the climate will remain “stable”. It really does seem as though the US government does not seem to see itself as the protector of its future generation, as the guarantor of basic human rights and standard of living for its people. Or perhaps, climate change is just not important enough for the adults, the decision makers - our governments to make a firm stand.

Fortunately, we are seeing youth activism rising. In March 2019, students around the world went on a strike for climate change. Students from more than 100 countries participated, disrupting lessons and going out to make their voices heard. Of course, as any strike would, it received mixed reactions, some in support of student activism and their awareness of critical issues we are facing while others criticised their actions, labeling the strike as truancy and stating that students should have done it over the weekend to avoid disrupting learning. While the impact of the strike on policy-making cannot be certain, it is indeed reassuring knowing that youths are playing a part in trying to resolve this problem and that we currently have a generation that is willing to make a difference to our environment and consequentially our lives. Perhaps we still have hope.

Reality check

Despite the optimism, sometimes, it would help to have a reality check, to understand how much we are lacking in progress. In the Emissions Gap Report 2018 published by the UN at the end of last year, it is clear that we have a lot more to do before we can say for sure that our efforts have paid off. Many of the countries that had pledged their commitment towards lowering emissions of greenhouse gases are falling behind their promises and according to the study, the emissions level for 2030 has to be about 25 to 55% lower than that in 2017. Ironically, some countries instead saw emission levels increasing from 2017 instead.

Furthermore, some governments are actively ignoring calls from public to acknowledge our role, as humans, in worsening the current situation by adopting policies that continue to harm the environment including Trump’s support for the coal industry in the US and Bolsonaro’s support for continued developments in the Amazon rainforest. Perhaps to these leaders, short term monetary gains outweigh long term damages and even as more people call for an end to such irresponsible actions, we may unfortunately not see any major changes in the near future. We continue to be threatened by the very people who had promised to further high standards of living for future generations.

Conclusion

The people may act but if the government does nothing, our impact will be severely limited. I believe in public activism, ground-up intiatives but I also believe that the downfall of public activism is government inaction.

Moreover, man-made climate change is not a problem that can be confined to an area or be held against anyone specifically. It is everyone's responsibility to do something to protect what we have. Countries facing rising sea levels or worsening air quality are not facing these issues purely as a result of their own actions, rather it is a culmination of all of our actions and irresponsibility. You may be unable to appreciate the current situation, thinking to yourself that whatever is going to happen in the future is too far away from now or that it is someone else's responsibility to do their part but what youths around the world have recognised is that this mindset cannot be condoned for we are the ones facing the brunt of the effects of man-made climate change. We have to take action against something we can foresee in the future right now. There is never a “too early” for issues as crucial as this - one that can impact the lives of future generations with negatively as far as one can think ahead.

So, if kids and youth are able to acknowledge that, why can't adults do so too? Why are some governments still pushing away responsibility while some even dare to blatantly question the link between humans and climate change? This should not even be questioned in the first place so if someone asks me about how we should feel about current attitudes towards climate change, all I would say is that I'm terribly afraid.

(Cover photo by Bob Blob)

By Eugene Goh