17. WHY I CLIMATE STRIKE - A Student Striker Gives Us Their Thoughts From The Frontlines.

Our planet is dying. Ecosystems are collapsing. The air is warming, sea levels are rising, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, agricultural productivity is falling and what? We do nothing. We stand by and support the destruction of the planet and societies because we believe it makes us richer, stronger, greater people. I am here to say that is wrong.

Since this is a philosophy forum, I shall focus on the social, economic and political circumstances regarding the climate crisis. The environmental science is scary though, and is definitely worth researching, below is a short summary.

In October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a special report in regards to our progress towards limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. It concluded that we would have to take radical action, halving our emissions by 2030 globally to have just a 50% chance in meeting a 1.5 degree warming. This figure is important because, beyond that, nature takes control and a series of positive feedback loops cause uncontrollable warming.

In one sense, this is simple. We must leave fossil fuels in the ground and stop releasing carbon dioxide. The consequences of inaction are dire.

In the global south the effects of climate change are already being seen. In Mozambique, cyclone Idai killed over 1,300 people and many more are missing. International aid was over $40 million in emergency relief, an investigation was launched into subsequent sexual exploitation, and diseases spread rapidly. Most importantly, climate change had a role to play. We’re seeing a pattern across the world where extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and dangerous, and are increasingly linked to, or caused by, the climate crisis. That means that our everyday actions- what we eat, buy, get around in, wear etc- are causing devastation for others across the world. We, YOU, are causing suffering.

To any human with a heart, you see the problem. Any human with a head will guess the solution. To decrease suffering, we must decrease our carbon emissions.

Moreover, increased temperatures and climatic changes will lead to decreased water security (drought) and food security (famine), conflict, political unrest and climate migration. This is why our polluting actions are about more than just weather. Our way of life strips people from the essentials of life, causes conflict when mother nature can no longer provide enough to peacefully sustain us and brings down our institutions and civilisations. We are failing ecosystems, ourselves, civilisation and life itself. I also find it bizarre that the politicians who cease to act on the climate emergency are the same ones who want to stop migration, yet when you destroy homes and communities people will be forced to move.

If conservatives really exist to “conserve”, then start saving our planet before tradition and civilisation slip away from us.

If socialists want to radically transform our society for the good of people, then start with saving the planet.

If liberals want to protect the rights of individuals, then stand for what we stand on.

If anarchists want to topple hierarchy and domination, then stop allowing a system which dominates and exploits the environment.

If religious people want to worship their creator/sustainer/God, then start protecting the planet and people who they created.

If you’re a vaguely rational individual, then listen to the science.

So far I’ve portrayed a very anthropocentric reason for climate action but I’d hope that we would recognise that ecosystems, nature and the environment have worth in themselves. As Andrew Leopold stated, we need a “land ethic” whereby we recognise that land has fundamental rights. As a consequence, exploiting the land for profit isn’t just wrong but unethical. The birds in the air, animals on the land, fish in the sea, trees in the ground, and air that we breathe has value in and of itself.

Climate action is right and ethical. Inaction is complicit, unethical and bordering on evil.

In the process of decarbonising we will need to ensure that a just transition takes place, namely in the form of the Green New Deal. This policy aims to decarbonise the economy in 10 years through government led actions. It will invest strategically in communities that have been left behind by decades of economic policy. Habitats and ecosystems across the country will be restored. Millions of zero-carbon, green jobs will be created. This ensures that people aren’t left behind and worse off because of climate action, and helps us to fix past inequalities.

But why does all of this make school-striking (or striking from work, like in September) appropriate? Since when did kids have the right to get annoyed at adults, break rules and even participate in Non Violent Direct Action? It happened when you, the generations above me, chose not to act seriously on the climate crisis. The science has been around for 30 years, that’s 30 years of allowing emissions to rise uncontrollably. If people had acted back then, we wouldn’t need to strike now. But they didn’t. You didn’t. September 20th was the largest climate mobilisation in history. 

When you take away our future, expect us to rebel. We’re too young to vote, take office or participate in the “traditional” forms of action. Yet again, even if we were old enough for traditional action, that system has failed. Empty words, promises and awareness haven’t saved our planet. The same system that punishes us for missing a day of school or work and tells us that this isn’t the “proper” way, willingly takes away our future out of greed, selfishness, domination and cruelty. The system to date has failed.

That is why we must rise up. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve come from in life, what matters is that you care because climate change will affect you and your loved ones too. I never wanted to miss school. I wish that I could sit in a classroom whilst the people in charge sort this out. Sadly, they won’t. I apologise to my teachers and school for the time that I’ve missed but it’s given me a voice. A voice to call for change.

There are people out there who are prepared to listen. I’ve spoken to unions, councillors, MPs, PPCs, charities, businesses and organisations. All of them appreciate and support our actions in some form. We haven’t won the battle though. Noone said that tackling the largest existential threat to humanity would be easy. That’s why young people will continue to strike for climate. Until we reach and surpass the targets set in the Paris Accord, we will take to the streets. We care too much for our planet, others and our future.

4 million people went on climate strike on the 20th September, all demanding action on the climate crisis. The UK contributed 300,000 people to that total. For too long young people and our voices have been ignored but that can’t go on. This is our future. This is what democracy looks like.

“Another world is possible, we are unstoppable”.

AUTHOR: Aaron Smith, Student at King Edward VI Aston and UKSCN Campaigner (www.ukscn.org/)