Jill Douglas's Letter

To Megan, my surrogate daughter,

Darling Megan, I know how scared you are, at your tender age of 28 and with your whole life ahead of you. I feel the same at the age of 63, and find that the idea of dying of old age is a thing of comfort - the world is so unstable and I can only think that climate change is going to get so much worse even in the years I have left.

I am terrified for your generation and for those who are being born now and in the future. What are their lives going to be like? The world is heating up and leaders seem so unwilling to do anything really active about it! This is humanity we're talking about! I understand that jobs are important, but we need to invest in green industries which provide jobs - simplistic, I know, but the option is the extinction of the human race, and not just the human race, but all the animals, birds, insects, fish, plants, beauty in this amazingly, incredibly wonderful place we call home - Earth. It is, as far as we know, the only place in the universe which supports life and we're destroying it, car by car, plane by plane. The use of fossil fuels must be stopped now - I know that Putin's horrendous hold on the supply of gas and electricity has caused a U-turn in the politicians' best intentions but we need to act NOW! Otherwise there simply will be no tomorrow. And that is the most terrifying thought. A slow, desperate attempt to live - impossible really for those who live in countries most affected by drought, or rising sea levels - but also for us in the fortunate rich countries of the world. It may take longer but the outcome will be the same.

So what could happen if the world's leaders really got together and made a difference? If we stopped the use of fossil fuels, developed transportation that didn't cause CO2 emissions, stopped tampering with nature and allowed balance back in the world? Allowed the Amazon to regrow, the poles to cool down and life to flourish? Then we might be able to look forward, have babies with some confidence that their lives would be worth living. I truly hope this might happen. Though it will take an enormous act of determination by all. Please, to anyone who has read this letter and is in a position to do something, do your best to let us all live?