Everyone on the planet should be more than concerned about climate change. However, the world’s youth are the most concerned because they have the most to lose.
Someone in their 70s will probably never live to see the catastrophic effects if the planet rises another 2 or 3° degrees. That’s why there’s a huge gap in generational concern over the issue.
According to Yale, 70% of adults aged 18 to 34 say they worry about global warming compared to 56% of those aged 55 or older.
The current Paris Agreement attempts to keep the Earth’s
temperature from rising 1.5° C above the pre-Industrial Revolution levels to
avert global catastrophe. But a report from the BBC shows that if we don’t take
substantive action, the Earth’s temperature may rise to 4 °C above that level by
the year 2100.
A temperature increase that catastrophic would lead to the inundation of coastal cities, the world’s food supply would be put at-risk, dry regions would become dryer and wet regions wetter. This will be accompanied by an incredible loss of biodiversity across the Earth.
One of the positive things that has come out of this global
crisis is Greta Thunberg. This 17-year-old Swiss climate activist has worked
tirelessly on behalf of her generation to world leaders accountable for their inaction.
Through her protests and speeches, Thunberg chastises and encourages
lawmakers to attack the climate crisis so the planet remains inhabitable for
her generation.
For her tireless dedication, Thunberg has been nominated for the 2020 Noble Peace Prize.
Nobel Peace Prize nominees can be submitted by members of national assemblies and governments, select academic institutions, former winners, and Norwegian dignitaries. Two members of Sweden’s Left Party chose Thunberg. The teenager was nominated by three people in 2019, but wasn’t chosen.
Jens Holm and Hakan Svenneling said that Thunberg “has worked hard to make politicians open their eyes to the climate crisis” and “action for reducing our emissions and complying with the Paris Agreement is therefore also an act of making peace.”
Thunberg founded the Youth Strike for Climate movement two
years ago by refusing to attend school on Fridays until lawmakers took
significant action to stop climate change.
Her protests grew into a phenomenon with students across the globe taking time off from class on Fridays to participate in demonstrations demanding action to prevent climate change. The protestors also called for the fossil fuel industry to transition to renewable energy.
The movement would go on to inspire the Global Week for
Future from September 20 to 27, 2019 which included 4500 strikes in 150
countries that were attended by roughly 4 million protestors.
On September 23, 2019, Thunberg addressed world leaders at
the UN Climate Change Summit where she delivered a powerful address to the organization.
“This is all wrong. I shouldn’t be up here. I should be
back in school on the other side of the ocean,” she said. “Yet you all come to
us young people for hope? How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my
childhood with your empty words.”
“People are suffering. People are dying,” she continued. “Entire
ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction. And
all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth. How
dare you!”
The winner of the Nobel Prize for peace will be announced in
October 2020.
If Thunberg wins, she will become the second-youngest Nobel Laureate at 17 years old and 7 months. The youngest will still be Pakistani activist for female education Malala Yousafzai who won the award at 17 years and 3 months in 2014.
Photo Credit: Flickr.