HARRY HOLMES
We’re writing this as the results come in for the 2019 General Election. It’s not looking good for the planet, for oppressed communities, and for our future. We tried to ask as many as possible to vote for climate policies, but we couldn’t escape the Brexit black hole politics was sucked into. The refusal to extend the franchise to many youth strikers cannot be ignored. Boris Johnson as it currently stands will be Prime Minister until 2024, 4 years into the climate decade. We’re not going to wait that long for ambitious climate action.
The young people who form our organisation and others are not going away. We may need time to rest, to mourn and fight alongside those who will be further oppressed and harmed, but we are not disappearing. For the past few years, it has been young people who have pulled the weight of climate movements here in the UK. We need more to join us, young and old.
We’re going to have to fight not just for climate action, but to protect those suffering as a result of austerity capitalism. Many of us have been fighting our whole lives as young people against climate denialism and disaster capitalism. Johnson has a record of homophobic and islamophobic hate, we will have to organise in solidarity to fight further division. We are not unprepared for this moment, no matter how grand the challenge seems.
The climate movement cannot wait until 2024 for a change in direction. If power will not be used for people and planet, then it should be taken from those who have it. The climate movement needs to build for climate justice in every space it can. This means pressure on Parliament, on polluters, and anyone who stands in the way of climate justice.
Movements will develop in the coming months and we cannot wait to be part of them. COP26 will be a nexus point for the UK to show its desire for climate action. There will be more and more ways to link climate justice movements with social justice movements. Opportunities are still within grasp.
So, for those upset or scared with the result you are not alone. And we hope to see you in our movements, in whatever form you can be. Whether it's practising mutual aid and collective care, or marginalising climate capitalists, do not sit still. We can still build power for climate justice in these years.
It is always darkest before the dawn.