Jim Beattie, FTFO Chair, Speaking notes to Fridays For Future, Sept 24
I am glad to be here representing FTFO to support Friday’s for the Future, an international youth movement calling for climate justice. I wish to honour the young organizers of this event and to pay tribute to a great leader, Greta Thunberg.
Today youth around the world are again calling on all governments, those who have the responsibility to secure a safe and equitable future for youth and unborn generations, to act with heart and determination to stop global warming. We are here to support them, to call on every parent, every adult, every elected person at every level of government, to sweep away apathy and FALSE narratives and to accept the truth presented by scientists around the world that our biosphere is collapsing. Heat domes, massive flooding, horrific fires, melting glaciers, are not interesting anomalies. They are a frightening pattern of loss that will only intensify and become more frequent if we do not act now.
Children around the world deserve no less than our love and effort to keep them safe.
And it is not too late! But we have challenges. We are at a crossroads. The reality is that, regardless of what road we choose, how we live is going to change. If we choose to act boldly, not just to tinker around the edges doing what is convenient or merely feasible, if we choose to do ENOUGH to meet targets set by science, to end our dependence on oil, to build a world around energy that is clean and sustainable, we can create a world that will bring joy to children deep into the future.
The youth who have organized these gatherings around the world are mature beyond their years are calling on us to take ownership of this crisis and to do something, now!
Yesterday Britain’s PM, Boris Johnson called out the world’s governments, telling them to “Grow up” and clean up this mess we adults have created. Today, let’s honour our children and commit to leave them a better world.
Thank you.
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