Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

The gamble for the planet: young climate activists could tilt the scales

Isabel Schatzschneider 6th November 2021

Government leaders in Glasgow are still behind the climate curve but young activists might just drag the world ahead of it.

COP26,Glasgow,young climate activists,Fridays for Future,Greta Thunberg
First there was one (Live Oeian / shutterstock.com)

Whilst the world’s political elite is gathered in Glasgow for the United Nations climate conference, the future of our planet is hanging in the balance.

The recent UN emissions-gap report found that current government pledges are not even close to keeping the Earth within the 1.5C global heating threshold. To stay under the limit, the plans would need to be seven times as ambitious.

Roughly 50 countries and the European Union have already agreed to reach net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. The summit is our last opportunity to achieve targets that would avert irreversible environmental catastrophe.

Sadly, however, the COP26 pledges have been underwhelming. At the beginning of the week, the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, declared that his country would aim to reach net zero … by 2070. Being the world’s third largest emitter of carbon dioxide after China and the United States, with a population of more than 1.3 billion people, India’s pledge left critics nonplussed.

Will world leaders step up their game—and what might convince them to do so?

Emergency appeal

Last week, an open letter from young climate campaigners, led by Greta Thunberg, went viral with more than one million signatures. With their emergency appeal, the youth activists were calling out politicians on their empty promises and glaring double standards at COP26.

Yesterday, the famous ‘Fridays for Future’ movement took over the streets of Glasgow. Back in 2018, the movement began with Thunberg sitting in front of the Swedish parliament every school day, urging politicians to take action to tackle the crisis.

Considering the apathy around climate change, ‘Fridays for Future’ has the potential to raise the stakes of the talks, tilting the scales in favour of the young climateers. Collective action is a powerful tool—perhaps the most powerful one there is.

By early yesterday afternoon it was estimated that around 25,000 people were taking part in the protest, making it the largest demonstration so far outside the summit. As the first week of the conference came to an end, millions joined around 200 demonstrations across the globe.

Great impact

Participation in protest has a great impact on young people’s political attitudes. A study in Germany recently discovered that ‘Fridays for Future’ had significantly changed perceived political responsiveness and satisfaction with democracy among youth.

While addressing crowds in Hamburg at an earlier protest, Thunberg aired one of her lines that later became famous: ‘We are striking because we have done our homework, and they have not.’ The Swedish activist has succeeded in mobilising young people across the globe, encouraging them to take matters into their own hands.

As we have seen with the recent German federal elections, young people can play a pivotal role in tilting public opinion ahead of polling day, giving the Greens their best national result in history. Following the success of ‘Fridays for Future’, Germany is now considering lowering the voting age to 16.

According to a poll conducted by the environmental association NABU ahead of the elections, however, 59 per cent of voters over 65 said they would not be considering younger voters’ climate-protection interests when casting their ballots. It’s no wonder young people are no longer willing to leave it to older generations to gamble with the future of our planet.

Not on track

António Guterres, the UN secretary-general, addressed the global public at COP26, highlighting that there is no time to waste: ‘Recent climate action announcements might give the impression that we are on track to turn things around. This is an illusion. Our addiction to fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink.’

Guterres’ statement resonated with the German public. The chancellor, Angela Merkel, has faced criticism over the country’s fossil-fuel addiction. Her party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), were called out by Greenpeace, which labelled the association with the German car industry an Achilles heel for the CDU.

Indeed, the German transport sector is the only industry that has failed to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions since 1990. This makes it crucial to look into renewable alternatives, such as biofuels, which could facilitate the turn away from fossil fuels.

An example comes from south-east Asia: in Malaysia, a legally binding Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification has successfully lowered the country’s deforestation for four years in a row. Investigating plausible alternatives to fossil fuels should be a part of any climate strategy. Along with industry-led net-zero commitments, certifications such as the MSPO could provide alternative ways to tackle over-reliance on fossil fuels.

Now or never

Recently, the United Nations Environment Programme production-gap report revealed how global fossil-fuel production must start declining immediately, and steeply, to be consistent with limiting long-term heating to 1.5C. When it comes to fossil fuels, it’s a now-or-never situation which can no longer be disregarded by world leaders.

We simply don’t have much time left to convert our industries into more sustainable ones. Young people may be at the frontline of the climate movement but they cannot bear sole responsibility.

Yesterday’s ‘Fridays for Future’ protest was a much-needed final warning to the political elite to raise their game at COP26. During the strike on the sixth day of the summit, named ‘youth day’, Thunberg described the event as a ‘failure’, a ‘PR exercise’, and a ‘greenwashing festival’, capturing the attention of the media.

Young people have had enough—and they won’t be settling for empty words without concrete actions.

Isabel Schatzschneider 1
Isabel Schatzschneider

Isabel Schatzschneider is an environmental activist and commentator on EU environment policy. She is a research associate at the Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nüremberg. Previously she was a researcher at the Schweisfurth Foundation in Munich.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u42198346761805ea24 2 Trump’s ‘Golden Era’ Fades as European Allies Face Harsh New RealityFerenc Németh and Peter Kreko
u4219834664e04a 8a1e 4ee0 a6f9 bbc30a79d0b1 2 Closing the Chasm: Central and Eastern Europe’s Continued Minimum Wage ClimbCarlos Vacas-Soriano and Christine Aumayr-Pintar
u421983467f bb39 37d5862ca0d5 0 Ending Britain’s “Brief Encounter” with BrexitStefan Stern
u421983485 2 The Future of American Soft PowerJoseph S. Nye
u4219834676d582029 038f 486a 8c2b fe32db91c9b0 2 Trump Can’t Kill the Boom: Why the US Economy Will Roar Despite HimNouriel Roubini

Most Popular Articles

startupsgovernment e1744799195663 Governments Are Not StartupsMariana Mazzucato
u421986cbef 2549 4e0c b6c4 b5bb01362b52 0 American SuicideJoschka Fischer
u42198346769d6584 1580 41fe 8c7d 3b9398aa5ec5 1 Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One AdmitsBo Rothstein
u421983467 a350a084 b098 4970 9834 739dc11b73a5 1 America Is About to Become the Next BrexitJ Bradford DeLong
u4219834676ba1b3a2 b4e1 4c79 960b 6770c60533fa 1 The End of the ‘West’ and Europe’s FutureGuillaume Duval
u421983462e c2ec 4dd2 90a4 b9cfb6856465 1 The Transatlantic Alliance Is Dying—What Comes Next for Europe?Frank Hoffer
u421983467 2a24 4c75 9482 03c99ea44770 3 Trump’s Trade War Tears North America Apart – Could Canada and Mexico Turn to Europe?Malcolm Fairbrother
u4219834676e2a479 85e9 435a bf3f 59c90bfe6225 3 Why Good Business Leaders Tune Out the Trump Noise and Stay FocusedStefan Stern
u42198346 4ba7 b898 27a9d72779f7 1 Confronting the Pandemic’s Toxic Political LegacyJan-Werner Müller
u4219834676574c9 df78 4d38 939b 929d7aea0c20 2 The End of Progess? The Dire Consequences of Trump’s ReturnJoseph Stiglitz

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

KU Leuven advertisement

The Politics of Unpaid Work

This new book published by Oxford University Press presents the findings of the multiannual ERC research project “Researching Precariousness Across the Paid/Unpaid Work Continuum”,
led by Valeria Pulignano (KU Leuven), which are very important for the prospects of a more equal Europe.

Unpaid labour is no longer limited to the home or volunteer work. It infiltrates paid jobs, eroding rights and deepening inequality. From freelancers’ extra hours to care workers’ unpaid duties, it sustains precarity and fuels inequity. This book exposes the hidden forces behind unpaid labour and calls for systemic change to confront this pressing issue.

DOWNLOAD HERE FOR FREE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641