Young Canadian’s feelings about climate change and the future are contradictory, alarming, and hopeful all at once
Ask anyone on campus and more likely than not, they’ll be concerned about climate change. And we have every reason to be concerned; living in yet another warmest year on record, one likely to reach 1.5 degrees of warming, things don’t appear to be getting much better.
Our federal politics seems dominated by a party (the Conservatives) running purely on negative politics, screaming for a carbon tax election and offering no viable alternative to addressing the overwhelming body of evidence that climate change is a serious, urgent crisis.
With every other party seemingly doomed to a parliamentary minority in opposition, what hope is there that a conservative majority will be serious about addressing climate change?
Internationally, the situation seems all the more dire.
From the Mediterranean to the US-Mexico border, migrants, increasingly displaced by climate related catastrophe, are facing heightened violence. Domestically, wealthy nations in Europe and North America are becoming increasingly hostile to these same migrants who manage to survive the dangerous journeys to new homes.
These same wealthy nations refused to strike a deal at the recent COP29 climate conference that the world’s poorest countries found satisfactory.
Instead, they only offered to pay a small portion of the necessary funding to address the disproportionate effects of climate change on developing countries. These are the same developing countries who by-and-large did not contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the climate crisis, the emissions that were released in making the world’s wealthiest countries as wealthy as they are.
We, it seems, have every possible reason to be hopeless - and yet we overwhelmingly believe that together, we can address the climate crisis.
We, it seems, have every possible reason to be hopeless - and yet we overwhelmingly believe that together, we can address the climate crisis.
But young people’s feelings are not as simple as that overwhelming belief may suggest. But, as a start, our belief that action is possible is a good one.
Of the 71 per cent that believe change is possible, only half believe they can be part of it. In a seeming contradiction, almost half of all young people believe humanity is doomed.
What does it mean for students to be hopeful and hopeless at the same time? While you might take it as a sign of deep uncertainty, a more hopeful reading might suggest students recognize both the gravity of the problem and the necessity of a solution.
Young people’s belief that they will not be as well off as their parents, or that serious life-style changes are required to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change might suggest that they are pessimistic. But our belief that collective action is the path to solutions also suggests we are ready for a future of cooperation, not competition.
Our belief that collective action is the path to solutions also suggests we are ready for a future of cooperation, not competition.
Living in one of the wealthiest countries on Earth is a privilege. We are far closer to power than the world's poorest and most impacted by climate catastrophe. We cannot shed this global responsibility for selfishness.
Whether you choose to get involved at the University level, with groups like the newly renamed McMaster Climate Justice, at the local level with organizations like Green Venture, or at the provincial level, where our conservative government is far more vulnerable, students becoming active is critical for the future.
Getting involved is not just the responsible thing to do, it's a responsibility we all share, not just for ourselves, but for all of humanity, particularly those who lack the privileges we have that allow us to effect change. Students are ready to combat the climate crisis, now all that's left is to prove we can be the ones to do it.
Monday night, a group of McMaster students issued a petition urging McMaster administration to cancel classes and assessments on the afternoon of Sept. 27 so that students, staff and faculty can participate in a climate strike this Friday.
The students organizing the petition are a part of McMaster Students for Climate Change Advocacy (MSCCA), a McMaster-based climate advocacy organization.
The planned climate strike will come as part of a week of mass climate actions from Sept. 20-27, culminating in a global general strike to raise the alarm on the climate crisis.
Climate activists are planning a mass disruption, calling on people from all facets of society to walk out of school and work, thus disrupting business as usual and forcing leaders to pay attention.
“Together, we will sound the alarm and show our politicians that business as usual is no longer an option. The climate crisis won’t wait, so neither will we,” says a statement from Global Climate Strike, an environmental organization coordinating the protests.
While organizers hope that this will be Hamilton’s largest climate strike, it is not the first. Since March, young people from schools across Hamilton have been organizing regular protests to bring attention to the climate crisis. In collaboration with Fridays for future, young people from around the world have been walking out of classes on Fridays to demand immediate, far-reaching action on the climate emergency.
By making sacrifices to their education in order to attend the climate strikes, the activists are demonstrating that the climate crisis is an immediate priority.
“You’re really going to show that these people are in it for the long haul and especially if you’re missing work [or] you’re missing school. You are taking consequences and showing the fact that . . . if you don’t take care of this now, you won’t have a job, you won’t have school,” said Kirsten Connelly, MSCCA founder and co-president.
The urgency of the climate crisis was highlighted in a 2018 report from the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change. According to the report, it is of critical importance to limit global warming to 1.5°C within the next decade. It is very likely that failure to do so will result in catastrophic changes including mass extinction, floods, wildfires and the spread of infectious diseases.
Earth Strike Canada, the organization coordinating the Canadian climate strikes, asserts that the climate crisis is a result of an economic system that relies on indefinite growth, requiring unsustainable resource use and thus diminishing future quality of life. Earth Strike Canada’s demands include investments into green technological advancement, resource management reform and economic reform.
MSCCA’s role has been to encourage McMaster students to participate in the climate strike. To accomplish this, they are urging the university to cancel classes and evaluations on Friday afternoon so that students, staff and faculty can participate without penalty.
“Students shouldn’t have to choose between global citizenship and McMaster citizenship,” stated Connelly.
On Sept. 13, Concordia University announced that they would be cancelling classes the afternoon of Sept. 27 to allow students to attend the climate strike. McMaster students are urging the university to follow suit.
Last week, McMaster issued a statement saying that the university would stay open on Sept. 27 so that academic and research activities can continue as scheduled.
However, MSCCA members are still hopeful. As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition had over 2,100 signatures on Change.org, and the numbers are growing.
Organizers are pushing for a mass climate strike around the world. Hamilton’s climate strike will be held on Sept. 27 at 12:00 in Gore Park.
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