Helen: Why I Am A Climate Activist

I take my role as a steward of the earth very seriously. There is no greater role on earth than caring for all living beings, including the earth itself, with compassion and love and respect. That's how Green Heart Collective came about, growing out of my concern for the future of the planet. I have to be the change I want to see in the world and what I want to see is less waste, less mindless destruction of the planet, less greed and exploitation. My vision is to create a space where we can learn together, encourage one another, find a new and alternative way to live on this earth.

I am also a climate activist. I'm no Greta Thunberg, but we do share a passion for this wonderful world in which we live. A passion that drives me to campaign and raise awareness and yes, to also protest.

People close to me think I'm crazy. Maybe I am. Obsessed, yes. Because once you have seen, you cannot unsee. Once you believe in the truth of climate emergency, you cannot turn away and do nothing. You have to do something and that something can seem extreme to many.

I'm a pretty ordinary person but I will probably do some pretty out of the ordinary things in the next year.

Why?

Because I am terrified. I am terrified for my granddaughters because of the climate crisis. I am terrified because we are getting closer and closer to the point where there will be nothing we can do to stop climate catastrophe. Crops will fail; vast areas of the earth will become uninhabitable; sea levels will rise. And then wars will break out and society as we know it will collapse. This is not a distant dystopian fiction. This is already becoming a reality for many people and other living beings across the world. It will be a reality for my granddaughters.

And so yes, I will undoubtedly at some point cause a disruption and stop ordinary people from going about their daily lives. But I will not apologise for this. The disruption I cause is nothing compared to the global disruption we are all facing in the near future. This is truth. Don’t take my word for it. Check out Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, who in February this year described climate emergency as ‘the unseen pandemic, because left unchecked it will kill more people, and do much more harm, than Covid 19.’

We all have to stop and think and make changes before it is too late.

When I see reports of devastation of habitat and extinction of species and destruction of coral reefs and the horrors of intensive farming, my heart hurts. I grieve for all that we are losing, all that we are destroying, all the suffering we are causing. I feel helpless and hopeless, so what choice do I have? I have to do something, because doing nothing is not an option for me. I cannot bear to think of having to explain to my granddaughters how I knew what was happening and stood by and did nothing.

Don’t be fooled by the governments of the world telling us they have everything under control when it comes to climate emergency. They are playing at it, doing just enough to appease people, but not enough to bring about the real change that will actually make a difference. Targets to reduce carbon emissions are too soft, not demanding enough and yet not even these soft targets are being met.

I am prepared to be ridiculed, shouted at and maybe arrested, because I have to take a stand. I have to show people how serious I am about climate emergency. My fear of the impact of this climate crisis on the future of my granddaughters is far greater than my fear of what people may think of me or of being arrested.

We have all proved in the last year that we can do hard things, really hard things, when we have to. We can make sacrifices for the health and wellbeing of our families and of society in general. We all now need to make sacrifices to ensure the health of our planet for ourselves and for future generations.

Stop flying; stop eating meat; stop buying new.

That’s a good place to start. And start putting pressure on the government and the rich and powerful to stop exploiting the planet and other living beings for the sake of their own personal wealth and profit.

Time is running out.