Gillian Cummins's Letter

To my nieces, Catriona and Eilidh,

Dear Catriona and Eilidh

It's difficult to find the words. I feel so utterly ashamed. My generation, and the generations before me, have trashed your world. I look at you both, beautiful young women, one about to leave secondary school, one half-way through secondary school. And I see your lack of hope in the future. I see despair and cynicism and that haunted look that says "What's the point?". I see your struggles with mental illness. You are intelligent and smart. You know the truth about the future, you will not be duped by the politician's spin.

We have had plenty of warnings. We could have done things to give you hope, to model another way, a way which put people before profit, which recognised that, rather than dominating and exploiting the natural world, we are an intrinsic part of that natural world. If the natural world is destroyed, then we will be destroyed. Yet we were intent on greedily consuming everything in our path, and in the process we have taken away your futures.

In 2050 you will both be in your 40s. You will see billions of people having to move from their homelands because of flooding and drought. You will witness disruption and destruction on a level never ever witnessed in the history of humankind.

I am heartbroken for your future. I have no more words.

With love and shame
Gillian