Today, I was part of something huge. It reminded me why I’ve always been an environmental advocate.
This first photo was today. Marching side by side with over 20,000 people who all chanted the same words:
- “What do we want?”
- “Climate action!”
- “When do we want it?”
- “NOW!”
This second photo was exactly ten years ago, marching alongside hundreds of young people who attended the COP16 in Mexico back in 2009. We were all demanding the same thing then as we are now. Ten years have passed and we are still here. Demanding our politicians to grow a spine and actually do something.
Having worked in this field for over ten years is, at the best of times, exciting and full of hope. At the worst of times, absolutely heartbreaking.
When you work in this field, you know. You know the extent of the irreversible damage that we are doing to our planet. You know that we are running out of time. You know that even if we were to completely overhaul our economic system tomorrow, future generations will still bear the worst of the impacts. The climate crisis is one of the main reasons why I have chosen to remain childfree. And in the last ten years, I’ve seen little change in terms of political will.
I distanced myself from the activism scene because I was burnt out and quite honestly, full of apathy. “Why make the effort to demand something that is never going to happen?”, I would tell myself. Being out in that protest today changed that. I realised how much I missed being part of these demonstrations. It reminded me of why I’ve chosen this career path. It re-energised me and connected me to that fire in me that, albeit dimmed, has really never stopped burning. And it renewed my hope and understanding that while yes, we still have a long way to go, we are, across the globe, all in this together. #ClimateStrike #FridaysForFuture #Activism