Walking for climate justice

Phoebe Simcock, 9th Jun 2021
Tags: Life Blog Culture Environment

Despite the severity of the climate crisis and the news articles surrounding this, I find the subject quite daunting. There is a lot to learn and years of actions that need to be reversed. However, we must not feel like fish out of water, so I did my research and obtained an interview with someone who really knows her stuff to help to explain what we can do to help.

The G7 summit is a meeting in which ministers and officials from seven advanced economies gather to form agreements and publish statements on global events. This year, the summit is being held at the Cornish coast. Some of the G7 decisions will have global affects and climate change activists are keen to make sure that real changes are made for our environment.

They have written an open letter to world leaders demanding climate justice.

A group of young Christians who feel strongly about climate change have decided to make a change. They have written an open letter to world leaders demanding climate justice and will follow this up with a 1.5 mile prayer walk, representing the 1.5°C temperature cap. The rise in the global temperature will affect those in poverty the most, resulting in longer droughts and four times as many tropical cyclones.

The activist group currently have 400 signatures but are hoping to double that before the summit starting on the 11th June. They have been supported by churches and charities such as Tearfund, where more information and access to signing the open letter can be found.

One of the members of this team, Poppy Jenkinson, joined me in an interview today to discuss what influenced her step to support climate justice and how her faith has supported her on this journey.

To Poppy, climate change is a big concern because those who are vulnerable to it most are contributing to it the least. She stated how important it is to look after other people, as Jesus would have done.

“This can’t be another greenwashing stunt, this is an emergency”. Greenwashing is when a movement or company attempt to look more environmentally friendly than they are, in order to appease the public.

The group urge other young people to realise the power in their actions.

A very poignant point mentioned in our conversation was that “there is so much power in individual actions”. The group urge other young people to realise the power in their actions and to take steps to be more eco-friendly.

A few ways of how to do this was mentioned. Eating less meat, using public transport more, and buying from charity shops or Depop rather than adding to fast fashion.

“It’s really difficult to do when people won’t change their behaviours. My friend always says keep going, keep persevering and be an SFairy which is a sustainable Fairy”.

Image Credit: Giphy

If you’re passionate about supporting climate justice, but struggle to get your friends or family on board, take up the SFairy attitude and hopefully people around you will learn by following your actions.

To get involved with the changes that Poppy and her group are trying to make, check out the Tearfund website to sign the open petition ahead of the summit.

Do a 1.5 mile walk of your own and tag @wearetearfund.

You can also follow them on Instagram and do a 1.5 mile walk of your own and tag @wearetearfund and #takeastand.

Let’s all encourage our friends and family to become ‘SFairies’ too and make little changes today, towards a big change tomorrow.