On Earth Day 2020, Mary Robinson launched this series of intergenerational blogs. In her special Earth Day message, she outlined the need for us to respond to the global challenges we face in solidarity.
As a young climate activist, I’m often told, ‘you’re too young to understand’, that I’m hopelessly idealistic and naive. I laugh at the irony – we school strikers have had no choice but to grow up, and fast. I’ve learned to face hard facts that adults seem incapable of accepting.
Case in point: during Ireland’s recent general election, the school strikers felt confident that climate would be put front and centre. It wasn’t. Yet, another growing up moment for me. Even after tens of thousands had taken to the streets in Ireland just a few months before, the climate crisis was still regarded as a niche issue, only mentioned after “real”, grown-up problems such as jobs, housing and health had been addressed.
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