We are living in turbulent times with little certainty of the future. The British political system is in peril and by the low standards of our government’s climate targets so is our environment. Our political system has failed us. But arising are the leaders of the future.
In the face of Brexit, the fate of our climate is up in the air and feeling that young people’s views aren’t being heard is rife. Over 70% of 18 to 24-year-olds voted to remain in 2016, with a correlation between age and voting preferences, older people were more likely to vote to remain. Each election 1.5 million 16 and 17-year-olds are denied the vote in the UK, meaning that the 1.5 million teens who weren’t legally allowed to vote for the 2016 Brexit referendum are now turning 20 and will be more affected by the vote than their older counterparts.
We have witnessed a steady increase in our youth showing interest in how our government is run. Greta Thunberg has become the climate activist icon that we didn’t think we needed. At the age of 15 she began her solo climate protest of striking from school in august 2018 and since then 20,000 students have joined this movement in countries such as Germany, Canada, Japan and the UK.
The view amongst teenagers and young adults resonate with the words of Greta Thunberg; “Since our leaders are behaving like children, we will have to take the responsibility they should have taken long ago,” and I believe the next generation of leaders and voters will make a mark on this earth!
background reading: https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/PSA%20Beyond%20the%20YCC%20FINAL_0.pdf
Politics of Climate Change 