A few years ago, there was a time when climate change was front and centre – every media outlet covered it, and it felt like a real movement. Greta Thunberg made her unforgettable speech at the UN Climate Action Summit on 23 September 2019, and I genuinely thought that change was coming. But instead of focusing on what mattered, so-called “climate activists” wasted everyone’s time by blocking roads, throwing soup at paintings, and carrying on with antics that alienated everyone. Now people hate climate activists, and the entire climate emergency feels like it’s no longer on anyone’s radar.
These activists squandered the momentum we had – the world’s attention was theirs for the taking. They could have organised events to inspire positive change. Imagine if they’d held a massive climate festival across London’s Royal Parks, with vegan picnics, community pledges, workshops on sustainable living, and activities to get people actively involved. Instead, their pointless stunts only fed the media’s obsession with “disruptive activism.” Now many of them are either in jail or entirely sidelined, and people are left with the bitter aftertaste of a movement that once felt hopeful.
And here we are in 2024, amidst relentless climate catastrophes, and yet no one seems to care. Every month, another disaster hits – devastating floods in Valencia and British Columbia, hurricanes, wildfires everywhere, thousands dead from floods in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines. Yet where’s the outrage? The sense of urgency? People have become desensitised, and it’s because the movement that could have made a difference lost the plot entirely.
I’m honestly at a loss. How can we get people to change daily habits for the planet now? The interest is gone, and the once-growing support for climate action has soured. We needed a rallying call, something to draw people in positively, but instead, all we got were empty gestures and headlines that did more harm than good.
What a terrible waste of an opportunity to make real, meaningful change.
The world isn’t asking for grand sacrifices. Small shifts in everyday choices – buying less, reusing more, choosing sustainable options – could collectively turn the tide. But somehow, we’ve normalised a culture that values seasonal excess over the long-term well-being of our own children.
So, as people flood stores and scramble online for deals, it’s worth asking: What will these presents mean if the world they’re brought into is increasingly uninhabitable? It’s not about guilt-tripping anyone but waking up to the reality that without urgent action, we’re robbing our kids of a future just to fill the space under a tree this year.