By Miguel from Friends of the Earth Spain
A few weeks ago, the publication of the 6th IPCC report alerted us to the serious consequences that climate change will have for humans if we do nothing for the next four years. Months ago, IPBES described similar scenarios if we do not prevent the loss of biodiversity – the possibility of a sixth mass species extinction. All this, in addition to a global pandemic that has shaken our lives. Environmental challenges are not only a matter of butterflies that disappear but of people who suffer and die daily.
In the middle of this explosion of bad news, we had to organize a gathering, the Mediterranean Youth Forum. We knew that it was not an easy task (when is it?) and that it could serve to continue deepening that gap that capitalism causes in our bodies and in our Earth. Today, with the Mediterranean Youth Forum being over, my feeling is not to have deepened that gap, but having looked at it carefully, realizing that there are many more people watching. And these people are holding hands and starting to close it.
There are millions of articles on how we should transition our economy towards one without emissions and extractivism. Millions! But what we need today are millions of hands willing to change the world – willing to cultivate gardens in the middle of cities, willing to block a coal power plant, and be ready to organize the most important struggle in the history of humankind.
Even if it was through the screen, the only thing I saw was those hands. Maybe we can only use our hands because it is the only thing we have. Maybe we don’t need more.
Thanks again to the YFoEE family and to all our sisters around the continent. Although we still don’t know if we will achieve our goals on time, it is clear to me that I am walking this path with the best people out there.
