The Youth Must Continue to Speak Out

The youth is today’s most compelling voice on climate change.

On September 20, 2019, we witnessed the largest climate protest in history with Greta Thunberg, the 2019 Time Person of the Year, and other youth leaders inspiring 4 million people to participate in the Global Climate Strike around the world. Millions of adults did heed the young people’s call to join them in the demonstrations. From trade union members to doctors, nurses and even workers in Amazon, Google, and Facebook, they walked out of their workplaces to join the climate protests. While known to be the most anxious generation, the Gen Z succeeded in creating a powerful worldwide movement that urgently demands governments and businesses to cut emissions and stabilize the climate.

More than 60 country leaders and 100 city mayors committed last year to ambitious environmental goals to reduce their emissions and achieve a net-zero emission by 2050. Likewise, there is an upward trend in employees and customers expecting businesses to create climate action plans and lead sustainability programs in their companies to lessen their carbon footprint. A significant number of people commit to taking climate action in their individual capacity such as limiting waste, avoiding the use of disposable items, eating less meat, and abstaining from taking non-essential air travel. There is a surge of support to use alternative energies such as solar and wind as well as to engage in eco-projects such as tree planting and growing own vegetables to help the planet. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the youth’s powerful influence in his statement, “Young people tend to have a fantastic impact in public opinion around the world.”

Truly, young leaders have wielded their power to place climate issues to global center stage. However, despite these positive changes, greenhouse gas emissions have continued to grow. In fact, it hit a record high in 2019 according to research published in December.