WASHINGTON (AP) — The climate change generation says officials talk too much, listen too little, and act even less. And they’re fed up.
“Instead of talking about how to solve the climate crisis, they are negotiating about how to keep polluting,” said Mitzy Violeta, a 23-year-old indigenous Mexican activist. “Youth movements are realizing that the solution will not be found in international gatherings,” like the one taking place in Egypt.
“We are upset by the inaction that is being done,” said Jasmine Wynn, 18, of the environmental group Treeage.
With decades of warmer and more extreme temperatures ahead of them, young climate activists face a future that makes them frustrated and anxious, according to more than 130 activists interviewed by The Associated Press. Most of them said they thought their strikes and protests were effective. But lately, in high-profile and eye-catching actions, a handful of activists have gone beyond skipping school to target artworks, tires and fossil fuel dumps.
Experts and donors expect these direct actions to intensify.
“They will do whatever is necessary without violence. They’re on fire,” said Margaret Klein Salamon, a clinical psychologist who runs the Climate Emergency Fund which financially supports some of the protest events in your face. “They are so passionate. Part of that comes from youth, of course. But it’s fueled by reality, having a kind of truth-telling.
At one of the most traditional protests in New York in September, 14-year-old Truly Hort said she was afraid of the future: “I always had all these dreams, and now I’m like, ‘ My God, I can’t do that.’”
The problem, she says, is that leaders talk about what they hope to do, “but it’s not a lot of people who act.”
Also speaking about her anxiety at the same protest, 16-year-old Lucia Dec-Prat said: “It’s one thing to worry about the future and it’s another to come out and do something.
But protesting doesn’t do much, Dec-Prat said: “I honestly think adults aren’t listening.”
Governments and international organizations are moving too slowly to tackle climate change, many people interviewed said of the climate conferences. A large majority of activists surveyed agreed with Greta Thunberg’s characterization of climate negotiations as talks without action, or “blah blah blah”, as the Swedish activist put it in a speech last year .
“So rather than just making noise to contribute to the blah blah blah, make noise for the action. I think that has to be the most critical thing,” said Jevanic Henry, 25, from Saint Lucia in the Caribbean “We lead the action.
“Money doesn’t matter because we won’t have anywhere to live,” said Aniva Clarke, a 17-year-old activist from Samoa. “And that’s probably the biggest issue that a lot of world leaders don’t really focus on.”
While many young activists don’t feel like they’re being listened to, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres thanked the world’s youth for pushing negotiators to do more. Dana Fisher, a University of Maryland social scientist who studies the environmental movement and young activists, said she has testified before Congress and spoken at the United Nations and at past climate negotiations.
“Young people have had a lot more say than at any other time in my adult life,” Fisher said. “I think a lot of them felt like because they were invited and given these opportunities, it meant everyone was going to change their policy.”
And she said that’s not what’s happening, which then makes them frustrated.
Speaking at a cultural event in London, Thunberg said annual climate conferences like the one in Egypt will not bring significant change. “Unless, of course, we use them as an opportunity to mobilize,” she said, “and we make people realize what a scam it is and we realize that these systems make us default.”
One of the most prominent young climate activists, Vanessa Nakate from Uganda, was both on the outside as a protester who started the Rise Up movement and later on the inside as UNICEF Ambassador on Climate Change.
“The question should be, what should leaders do? What should governments do? Because in all this time I’ve been doing activism, I’ve realized that young people have done it all,” Nakate told The Associated Press.
Targeting companies and corporations with more pressure, protests and shame – such as a recent protest in New York at the headquarters of financial investment firm BlackRock – was cited by most respondents as an effective tactic to combat climate change.
Minutes before marching past Wall Street’s famous bull statue and near the site of the Occupy Wall Street movement, 17-year-old Oscar Gurbelic blamed the free market system and big business squarely.
“Climate change and capitalism are intrinsically linked,” Gurbelic said.
Many say they are ready to make changes in their own lives to take responsibility for reducing emissions. They fly and drive less, and walk more. Many of the activists surveyed say they would likely have fewer children because of climate change. Most said they do not participate in certain activities at least once a week because it is wasteful or polluting.
“We no longer want to live in a world where we only seek to consume and use things and throw them away,” said Violeta from Mexico.
Similar to other protest movements, there are differences in thinking about whether to work inside or outside the system. Some activists AP spoke to work with governments, international organizations and non-profit groups to raise awareness of the climate risks facing their communities. Others work strictly at the local level, fighting the powers that be.
Experts who study young climate activists say that while the generation they belong to is the most educated in history, many want to put their studies on hold to focus on climate action. Others, like Jevanic Henry, want to merge their professional lives with climate activism. He has worked for governments and non-profit organizations on climate issues.
“I try to stay optimistic as much as possible,” Henry said in an interview, but he said it was tempered by fears that socio-economic collapse could occur if action is not taken at all. levels.
But hope goes no further.
“More and more people are going to be upset and frustrated and ready to take more aggressive action,” said Fisher of the University of Maryland. “And the problem is that at some point it can get violent.”
New tactics, such as throwing soup or mashed potatoes at famous works of art — which have glass protecting them from damage — grew out of that frustration, said Klein Salamon of the Climate Emergency Fund.
“We tried everything. Marches and lobbying, writing letters, making phone calls,” Klein Salamon said. “We’re just not where we need to be.”
AP reporter Teresa de Miguel contributed from Mexico City.
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