The freedom to hope and dream is a precious thing. It is something which I treasure. The ability to wonder and aspire is something that us young people are constantly reminded to do. But I find it hard to dream. I found out about the climate crisis when I was about 12/13 years old and as the curious person I am I decided to read about it. I would read these IPCC reports trying my best to break them down and understand them. I distinctly remember the beginnings of the climate movement, Greta Thunberg talking about it, and I was so curious to find out more.
Once I truly understood it, I felt depressed. I felt trapped. It felt hopeless, like something beyond my control. Then I found politics. Politics I felt was a way in which I could use that hopelessness and turn it into passion, hope and drive to push for the solutions we need. I did all I could: I presented assemblies in school about the climate crisis, I successfully lobbied my school to implement a long-term sustainability strategy, I chaired a local climate action summit in which young people came together to discuss climate solutions. These are all things I am immensely proud of.
Looking at this government, I see no hope at all, no vision. They are not taking the climate crisis seriously, few people are. There doesn’t seem to be an urgency. If we were, it would be all over the headlines. We would be implementing long-term plans, we would stop our investments in fossil fuels, we would be investing in infrastructure. Don’t take it from me: the solutions are all there – there are experts who have devoted their livelihoods to advising, lobbying and pushing for the change we need. We just need to listen to them. These people have been banging their head against a brick wall for decades, they deserve the attention they have been asking for.
As the third biggest party, we have a responsibility to the people of this nation to tell it to them like it is. For example, we have an obligation to tell this government that investing £1 billion pounds in carbon capture is not good enough. Instead, we should use that money for technology which we know works: wind farms, solar panels. Trees – they capture carbon too! I am not against development in technology, but we frankly do not have the time. This is urgent. The Climate and Nature Bill is a great start, but we must do more. We need a long-term, cross party sustainability plan to reduce emissions to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
I will only be free to dream, hope and aspire once we truly take this seriously. Right now, I do not feel free. I look to the future with dread, with sadness. Just like those who were in East Berlin, I feel trapped and frightened. I can see the solutions are so close, just like those in East Berlin could see freedom and prosperity so close, but they were trapped. All I can see are barriers, massive barriers in front of me. The day that we finally take this seriously – and treat the crisis as a crisis will be the day my Berlin wall falls, and it will be one of the happiest days in my life. I will finally be free, and be able to dream.
But until that day, I have to fight. We as Liberal Democrats must push for the changes we need so that young people like me can hope and dream. I joined the Liberal Democrats because I treasure freedom, and I believe in our party. We have an obligation to work constructively with this government, to work cross party to make all young people hope and dream again. We can be on the right side of history, we just have to follow the expertise and move quickly.
I write this with hope and trust in my heart that I and other young people will be listened to. I want to be able to look the next generation in the eye and tell them I did all I could. I hope that you do, too. Let me make it clear: we are living at a crucial moment in human history. We are experiencing a climate crisis like no other. Therefore we need an urgent, systematic calculated response from all disciples and walks of life. We need a sustainability strategy and a long-term economic vision which recognises the physical limits of the biosphere and the limits to growth. The eyes of future generations will be looking at us, and we must make them proud. Please, give young people like me a reason to hope and dream again.
* Rodrigo is a Liberal Democrat party member and a Young Liberal.
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5 Comments
ONE WAY TO STARTQWOULD BE TO INVESTIGATE MUD.RESEARCH IS GOING ON TO EXPLORE ITS USE FOR CARBON CAPTURE.MAKE IT FUN AS WELL AS AN EDUCATION PROJECT.
KENYA. A TRIBE IS CAMPAIGNING TO KEEP THEIR HOMES AS THE GOVNT IS ‘CLAIMING’ THEIR GREEN CREDENTIALS BY GIVING COMPANIES AN OPORTUNITY TO MAKE THE AREA A CARBON CAPTURE AREA .BOUND TO BE MONEY IN IT WHILST EXPLOITING THE LOCALS.HOPE COMES BOTH LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY.GET INVOLVED.
As a “boomer” who grew up under the threat of nuclear conflict, I can empathise but please, don’t give way to feeling of hopelessness. You have a great future and part of it will be helping in the struggle to bring about a just transition to a low co2 economy.
Of course more could be done, but there is a lot of work going on to develop the renewable technologies of the future. Part of the problem is that even those who are agreed on the problem can’t agree on the solution. There are trade offs to be made and other priorities to be taken into account, job losses in communities dependant on the oil industry, to name but one. That’s why we must avoid the cliff edges that simply jettisoning fossil fuels would create. You mention carbon capture. I had always thought that storing co2 was a part, albeit small, of the answer. A plan to put a carbon capture pipeline over the Isle of Wight is meeting massive opposition from local people and from the Greens AND Lib Dem’s on the island. It’s genuinely hand to know what constitutes the “right thing” sometimes.
Rodrigo is correct that climate change is a pressing concerns facing humanity, and Governments around the World are not doing enough about it. But I would urge Rodrigo – please don’t think that you can’t have dreams unless the Government changes its policies. You can ALWAYS have dreams.
Like Chris I grew up with the perpetual threat of nuclear war: All households even received a ‘Protect and Survive’ booklet from the Government telling us how to try to survive one. Generations before that lived with horrendous pollution (Google the Great Smog of London); a society that – if you were a woman – confined you to being a housewife with few other opportunities; actual World war; and before that, hunger and mass poverty on a scale we can barely imagine today. None of that stopped people dreaming of – and actually building – a better World. And the result is that today, for all the problems we face, for most of us in the UK, life is unimaginably better than it was 60 or 80 years ago.
It’s the nature of life that there will always be new problems to solve. But only you can choose whether or not you approach those problems with an attitude of hope and determination, no matter what the political circumstances. I hope you will do that, and be one of the people building a World where life in 60 or 80 years’ time can be unimaginably better than it is today.
For me the climate story began in the 1960’s.
Great article and yes I have periods of depression about it but Rodrigo is absolutely right in that the best way to be part of the change we all need is to do it with a smile and live our best lives whilst having fun. Fun. Where have I heard that before…
Ultimately we will have to trust the next leader of the USA and Xi Jinping as the leaders of the two dominant countries of the world to deliver on climate change and our other challenges. We can also look at our history. Throughout our evolution we have survived by our ingenuity and resilience. I see hope in AI if it can be monitored effectively. Technology got us into this mess so perhaps it can get us out of it.