As I woke up on the morning of December 15th, I knew I had to protest. I had come to Canberra for that explicit purpose, so it was fairly inevitable that protesting would be what I ended up doing that day. I was a little nervous – I’d never really attended a protest before, let alone organised coordinated actions around the country. But the future of my generation and countless others is definitely something worth protesting for.
I consider myself an optimist. I always try to look on the bright side and make the best of a bad situation. But when I found out that the targets announced were 5-15% by 2020, my heart sunk. It was very hard to separate my emotions from the rational, logical side of my brain. All I could think was ‘how could this happen? How could they condemn a generation?’
Standing outside the National Press Club, protesting with seven other young people, a few things occurred to me that managed to kick my logic back into gear. Firstly, that there are people that care. The members of UNYA that helped us protest on December 15th had other, very important things to do that day – like hand in their final, major assignment so they could graduate from Uni. But they chose to privilege standing up for their long-term survival of coming generations above their personal, short term goals. This filled me with an incredible amount of hope – that there are people that understand the importance of pushing for stronger targets and realise the urgency of the situation. There are people willing to stand up and make a difference.
The other thing that dawned on me was that we had a relatively small group of people protesting at such an historic announcement. Despite the increased amount of communication young people are exposed to – through mobile phones, p2p sharing and social networking sites – all of the benefits of this are lost if people are not willing to physically stand up for what they believe in. Although we only had small groups of people attending our actions that week in December, we managed to generate support for protests in every capital city around Australia and gain significant national media coverage, appearing on the 7:30 report and over 10 radio stations nation-wide. All this, from groups of around 10 people in every capital city. Just imagine what a difference we could make if we had 100, or 1,000 people doing the same thing, and simply saying ‘No. We need something better than this.’
Young people have a tremendous opportunity today. We are more connected than ever before, can share ideas and communicate quickly and easily, and can form a real sense of community with people living on the other side of the country, or even the globe. We have the means to express our views and to stand up for what we believe in more than ever before.
These low targets are not good enough. In 2050, when I am 62, I don’t want to look at my grand-children and tell them I did nothing. I want to tell them that I fought my hardest for them, and that I did everything I possibly could to make sure their future and survival is guaranteed. I wouldn’t want them to expect anything less of me.
We need to use this opportunity and the tools that we have now to make sure that we do everything we can to protect our future, and the future of generations to come. We have the resources, the ability, the strength and the passion to make a difference. We can stand up and say ‘No. Aim higher’ and make a real contribution to the world. All we have to do is take the first step.
Little steps, like using the the communication tools available to spread this message, by using social networking sites, signing petitions and talking to people about the issue. Bigger steps, like attending actions, talking to our local representatives, and helping to organise ways to shift the focus back onto the youth, e.g. Power Shift 2009. Whatever steps you take will make a difference.
December filled me with hope. The hope that young people will stand up for a just cause and will make a difference to this world. I hope that you feel the same.
Jessica Willis
jess.willis@youthclimatecoalition.org
