Youth Environmentalists: A Call to Action

By, Zoë Caron, Sierra Youth Coalition of Canada

Sometimes it’s hard to realize that you are on the verge of something. Often it’s difficult to understand that you are balancing on the edge. And most of the time it’s hard to predict that one specific issue will define a period in your lifetime.

But today–as an avid student politician and youth environmentalist–these are all clear to me: climate change is quickly becoming, and will be, the defining issue of our generation.

It may be hard to see, simply because we are smack-dab in the middle of it. I have only recently been convinced, by talking to activists that have been involved in climate change issues for over 20 years, that this issue has never, been this big before. Climate Change has never before been scientifically understood to this depth. And never has there ever been this much scientific consensus on the issue–or most any other issue for that matter. All of this is happening now, and all of this is still developing and expanding.

Climate change is the ultimate symptom and warning bell of the strains we have put on the planet. It is so serious that it is more of a human-survival issue than an environmental issue. It is bringing to light that all the pollution we create and all the waste we produce is finally having a larger impact than we ever expected. And none of the "typical” environmental issues have gone away–such as water pollution, air pollution, loss of natural areas, etc.

Climate change is, perhaps above all, a social justice issue. We must recognize that, at the root of the problem, it is the wealthy Western population that is genuinely responsible for the vast majority of the emissions fueling climate change. Similarly, it is largely the developing world that is feeling the brunt of climate effects. This is the peak of injustice: when actions from one are harming another, and it isn’t being acknowledged. Even in your very own community, there are people more responsible than others for climate change. Yet we will all bear the brunt of climate change in our community equally, whether you are a rabid conservationist or drive a 4-door SUV.