Friday for Future

It’s the voice that stays with me, soft and reassuring yet commanding. And the view wasn’t too bad either.

There it was, Australia. I was looking at the whole of my home country down there before me, surrounded by blueocean and speckled with white cloud like a weather map. Only it wasn’t a weather map, it was the real thing.

In return for answering some questions I was offered a trip around the world on a Friday afternoon. I agreed on the condition that I could also ask some questions. (I don’t know what prompted me to be so cheeky, clearly there was somewhat of a power imbalance here, but strangely I did not fear for my safety.)

My hosts graciously gave me some time to take in the beauty and wonder of what I was experiencing as the sun rises and sun sets flipped by and the pretty lights appeared in clusters on every continent.

But it was not all beauty and wonder. I could also see the billowing smoke of the wild fires in southern Europe, northern Africa and North America. In central Europe I could see flashes of cannon fire. I saw the equatorial regions of South America, Africa and South East Asia as a patchwork of jungles that are being eaten away by land clearing. I saw huge dust storms being blown from the deserts of northern Africa into the Atlantic Ocean. I was amazed by the whiteness andsize of the frozen regions. And everywhere, especially near big population centres I could see the dirty, nicotine shade of orange polluted air produced by transport and industry.

When we paused our flight over Wilsons Prom. It was time for Q and A.

My tour guides explained that they had been observing planet Earth for several decades. They expressed concern about the rapid degradation of our atmosphere, ocean, land and loss of biodiversity. They predicted that if climate change continued on its current trajectory there would very soon be catastrophic consequences for every living thing on Earth and the end of civilization in its present form.

Their first question was to ask me if humans were aware of what damage they were doing by continuing to burn fossil fuels and pumping ever more CO2, methane and other pollutants into the atmosphere.

Shamefully I admitted that we have known about this for a long time but added that we are making progress in our efforts to live more sustainably. Human greed, corruption, fear and complacency were the factors hampering our progress but that I still felt hopeful about our planet’s future. I was asked what gives me hope. I answered that there were millions of people all over the world working in whatever way they could to turn this around. I told the story of one of the world’s climate heroes Greta Thunberg.

In August 2018 Greta, aged 15, was so concerned about climate change that she went on strike from school every Friday. She protested by herself in front of the Swedish Parliament House to demand climate action from her government. Soon other students joined her. Her school strike for climate quickly spread to many other countries around the world. The goal of the movement is to force political leaders to take urgent action on the climate crisis.

The Fridays for Future movement still continues and is calling for reduction in greenhouse gases in line with the latest science, as well as for the protection of the world’s forests and oceans.

Groups of people both old and young continue to hold ‘Fridays for Future’ peaceful protests all over the world.

 I don’t recall my descent. I remember only a feeling of immense gratitude to be back in my home town again, and deep sense of belonging and love for my beautiful planet. I also recall being buffeted by a very strong wind. I could hear the whoosh of cars and trucks going by on the Prince’s Highway. Some of the passing cars were tooting their horns as they sped by me. I looked down at the sign that I was holdingit read “toot for URGENT CLIMATE ACTION”

Then my mobile phone played its familiar tune in my pocket. 

“Hello Rex, how ya goin?” I answered.

“You took a while. I was just about to hang up. You sound a bit dazed. You ok?” enquired my brother.

“Yeah sure, “I lied.

(I remembered then that I hadn’t asked the travellers any questions!)

“Anyway, do you reckon your Colliwobblies can beat the mighty Blues tonight?” continued Rex.

The reader has by now concluded that parts of this story are imaginative. So let me make sure you know the truth from the imaginative bits.

It is true that Collingwood did get the wobbles against Carlton.

It is true that you may often see us holding Friday for Future signs on the highway on Friday arvo’.

It is true that the northern hemisphere has experienced the hottest summer on record with catastrophic fires and floods to go with it. (Our turn for a very hot summer is only weeks away.)

It is true that the jungles and forests of the world are being cleared at an alarming rate.

It is true that transport, industry and power generation spew tons of dirty ‘Green House’ gases into the atmosphere every day.

It is true that human greed, corruption, fear and complacencyare hampering urgent action on climate change.

It is true that there is a world-wide transition to renewable energy and this gives me and millions of others around the world hope.

But that hope is a little bit wobbly because ‘Green House’ gas emissions are still rising and I fear that we are just running out of time.

Peter Neill August ‘23