Powerful decision-makers, from heads of state to oil company CEOs, want us to believe that the future of our planet is in our hands. They want us to believe that if we recycle enough or stop using single-use plastic, then we can stop the climate crisis and the human rights violations it entails.
They want us to believe that the solution lies in individual action, not an end to corporate greed.
This is simply untrue.
Today’s fossil fuel economy is powered and funded by companies and government officials who benefit from the current system. They are the ones who decide if we continue to extract and burn fossil fuels that result in children growing up with asthma and other respiratory illnesses in heavily polluted cities, or farmers losing their livelihoods because of drought or catastrophic rainfall.
But there is still cause for hope. Governments are legally obligated to rapidly reduce and phase out fossil-fuel emissions – failure to do so is a violation of some of our most fundamental human rights. Governments in countries that have contributed the most to climate change must take action first and make the biggest reductions.
These include our rights to health, food, housing, and even to life. If we work together and make enough noise, we can create a viable route to change.
It’s not too late to plant the seeds for a post-fossil fuel future.