A MESSAGE FROM THE YOUNGER GENERATION
OUR FUTURE IS AT RISK. WE ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH.
JOIN 530 PEOPLE BORN AFTER 1980
A letter from the younger generation
This message is addressed to all those in positions of power and influence born before 1980, whose decisions are currently determining our future. We will deliver this letter, along with all the signatures, at this November’s UN climate change conference, COP26, in Glasgow (UK).
Dear Leaders,
We are your children and grandchildren and we speak for the future.
We are in an emergency situation.
Due to the climate crisis and ecological destruction our futures are at risk.
The science is clear.
We are destroying the natural systems we rely on for our survival.
We are on course for levels of climate change that threaten the collapse of human civilisation within the lifetimes of people alive today.
Despite all the evidence and warnings, emissions are still rising.
The solutions exist but we are missing the necessary leadership and courage to implement them with far greater urgency.
Our fate is currently being decided by decision-makers in your generation who will not have to face the full consequences of their inaction.
We are all in this together but those of you born before 1980 currently hold the vast majority of influence, resources and power.
We cannot do this without you.
We need you to rise to the challenge.
Either make the changes we need to avert catastrophe or change will be forced on us by the collapse of the earth’s ecosystems and global heating.
We are scared. We are worried. We are angry.
We feel that you are neglecting your duty to us and to the future.
You say that we still have time.
We do not.
The best time to act would have been decades ago.
The next best time is now.
We call on you to tell the truth about the monumental risks we face.
We call on you to take immediate, just and decisive action to change our destructive trajectory.
We call on you to help us adapt to the negative impacts that are already occurring.
We call on you to mobilise human ingenuity to meet the scale of this enormous challenge.
We will vote for leaders who are responding with sufficient ambition to the threats we face.
We will buy from businesses who are leading the transition to a zero-carbon, regenerative economy.
We will not forgive those who block the changes we urgently need to make.
We will not have our futures stolen from us.
We are rising up to ensure a liveable world.
In hope,
530 MEMBERS OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION
I WAS BORN AFTER 1980. I AM DEMANDING URGENT ACTION TO SAFEGUARD MY FUTURE.
This campaign was launched by a small group of concerned citizens living in Europe, all born after 1980. Like many people (of all ages, not just young people), we are deeply worried about humanity's current trajectory. We are also angry and frustrated about the levels of inaction, stalling, and evasion we see at the very highest political levels. We launched this campaign to prove that many millions of young people all around the world share our concern and are prepared to act in defence of a liveable future. We believe it is especially important to send this collective message because very few members of our generation are currently in positions of global leadership, and yet we are the ones who will face the worst consequences of today’s failures to act.
We have set ourselves the challenge of achieving the highest number of signatures ever received for an online campaign, by the time of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, UK, in November 2020. Please sign the letter and help spread the word: @born_after_1980.