Today we use 100 million barrels of oil every single day. There are no politics to change that, there are no rules to keep that oil in the ground… we can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed. Everything needs to be changed. And it has to start today.’ Greta Thunberg, Student, 16
Would you give up flying to save the climate? What about eating meat? Or driving? What about one day of school?
The IPCC, the world’s top climate science body, says we have 12 years to change our society and our economy into one that is reducing its carbon emissions in line with what the science demands. And that the sooner and more rapidly we act the less severe the consequences will be.
And they could be very severe indeed.
Collapsing ecosystems won’t just deprive our children of the chance to see coral reefs and rainforests – they might deprive them of secure jobs and reliable food supplies. And many of them know this – they know that our reluctance to be honest about climate change and adopt the policies needed to change the system, while continuing to drill for oil and build new roads and runways, will leave them with a future that is much poorer than it should be.