WANTED: 1 Million Gretas - Are You In? [Apr 2019]
Standing in front of Extinction Rebellion protesters in London, Greta Thunberg told the audience: “Humanity is now standing at a crossroads. We must now choose which path we want to take.” These words capture both the climate crisis we face and the urgent need to act on it. The problem is that while most of us probably agree with Greta, only a small number of (mostly young!) people actually do something about it!
While Greta’s courage and determination are phenomenal it is obvious we cannot win this fight with only one climate hero, no matter how extraordinary she is. We need many more climate warriors to win this fight. Right now the dominating unsustainable mindset is so powerful that it can be brought down only by the power of the masses. We need at least one million people who just Greta will acknowledge that our future is at risk and no one is doing anything about it and therefore feel obligated to take action.
What sort of action? Any action that can meet these simple three criteria:
1. Public - it needs to be done or be shared in public in order to have impact, inspire others to act, and normalize climate action.
2. Continuous - one-time school strike or demonstration is great, but it’s not good enough. We need an ongoing effort and commitment to change the powerful status quo.
3. Non-violent - Actions should be piecefull and non-violent. In the words of Cesar Chavez: “Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak…Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win.”
Examples? Here we go:
School strike (obviously..)
Climate demonstrations in your city
Activities of climate action organizations/initiatives that are good fit for you (for example, Sunrise movement, Extinction Rebellion and Earth Uprising).
Demonstrating in front of the headquarters of companies that are not committing to the Paris Agreement goals.
Be creative! Print quotes from speeches/talks of your favorite climate activist and wear it (almost) every day! Print it also on your tote bag and make sure everyone sees it when you (locally) shop. Well, you got the idea.. We’re sure you have plenty more :)
