“I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic” says Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg “You are not mature enough to tell it like it is. Even that burden you leave to your children”. This was included in her speech in front of the UN plenary in Katowice, Poland on the 14th December, where she pressured world leaders to take action to reduce global warming impacts.
Hence the #FridaysForFuture movement was born. Numerous protests held by students took place in countries such as Sweden, Germany, Australia, Belgium, France and even in the UK. Most events are school walkouts where students miss school to attend those protests to enforce the importance of the issue of how climate change will affect their future, and not the future of adults who have negatively impacted the environment to a global crisis. The protesters strive for their countries’ governments to implement laws that cut carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions and oil spills, protect the environment or even a correspondence to the Paris Agreement; Greta Thunberg’s activist journey began with demanding the Swedish Parliament to keep their promise on fulfilling the eco-friendly legislature, which they failed to do with increased air pollution in the country.
I attended the #FridaysForFuture protest on the 15th February at Parliament Square. As I walked there from St James’ Park station with my own sign (‘In Deep Water’, with a picture of a map of what the UK would look like with the rising sea levels in the next couple of years, mostly under water), I could already see a growing group of enthusiastic young protesters. They chanted phrases such as “Climate change has got to go”, or even some which intervened in the political sphere, insulting Theresa May and praising Jeremy Corbyn, which really outlined the left-leaning and Labour supporting demographic of those who attended the demonstration. The protest progressed into blocking further roads until Westminster Bridge, and a tourist bus was overtaken in the process. Some students climbed road signs and used their thin aluminium as drums.
After attending the march I took the hypocrisy of the event into consideration. Who from these lively, passionate and self-proclaimed activists would protest for the minimal wage? Treatment of the homeless? Even the Brexit protests are popular enough to attend. However, it is not very pretty to advocate for human rights as it is to paint the planet Earth on a piece of cardboard that you’ll throw in a bin next to the Parliament.
People will call it pessimism and that ‘we can multitask’. Multitasking, on the other hand, would rely on acting on more than just one issue, such as climate change. It is fun and rewarding to be displayed on television channels, gather with your friends and feel better about yourself for ‘doing something’, but don’t turn your back on other problems arising in our society. Let’s not forget those who have protested against climate change but still use huge amounts of single-use plastic, buy fast fashion clothing and toss non-degradable junk in ordinary bins without the thought of recycling it.
Protesting has existed since freedom of speech was granted to the general public from those who rule over us, which means, from a long time. A protest is meant to raise awareness of, educate on, and pressure the government to act on a certain issue. It is not necessarily bad, if you consider no one was harmed in it, but a protest without a cause which is strongly believed and supported in by the majority of the protesters, becomes just a noisy inconvenience for drivers.
Before us students decide whether we shall go to the next climate change #FridaysForFuture protest on March 15th, we need to consider how we can improve our future in other ways. Take into account other causes and join less attended protests to help it gain importance to the masses. Sign petitions. Help a homeless person. Volunteer. Try to use less plastic materials in your daily life, or even better, use degradable or reusable alternatives such as stainless steel water bottles that you can refill from the tap, or carry your own shopping bag instead of wasting 15p on a plastic one every time you do grocery shopping, and throwing it away where it won’t degrade in the next 1000 years.
I support the climate change movement Greta Thunberg has recreated and I live for the fact everyone cares about the future, but we need to stay focused on our cause rather than our own benefit of the massive and media-attracting events. It shows that humanity joins together from every point of the world to make a change, from protests in Canada where it’s snowing less and less every year, to Kenya where water supplies are perishing from increasing temperatures. Activism is based on making changes, and the most effective change with which you can save the planet, starts with you.
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