Andrew Weston's Letter

Dear Elias,

I’m writing this on the first Father’s Day as ‘dad’ as well as ‘son’, sat surrounded by nature’s beauty as you nap soundly (for now, at least).

In recent years we’ve lived through a lot and used the word unprecedented more than you can imagine. We’ve seen a pandemic cause untold suffering around the world, conflict breaking out so close to home, and weather that’s increasingly unpredictable. We’ll tell you stories about all of this, no doubt. Of lockdowns, daily exercise, sourdough bread. Of Russia invading Ukraine, energy prices soaring, unimaginable destruction. And of forty degree heat and you so close to arriving, flash flooding, temperatures steadily, steadily rising.

All of it – and more – that we knew and we know will only get worse as our precious planet gets hotter and hotter. A microcosm, a flavour, of what’s to come. And not only that – the western world facing up to the harsh reality of what climate change looks and feels like when it starts to impact our day to day lives. We could have listened, and we should have listened, so much sooner.

I wonder, when you are older, if you will be angry. Angry for the interests that weren’t served in the short term by the action that was needed. Angry for the opportunities we lost – the time we wasted, the coincidental benefits, the endless consumption and drive for more. I couldn’t blame you. Some days I am too.

And yet even in the unprecedented few years we’ve seen, there are so many flashes of hope and signs that all will not be lost. We saw communities come together in ways that even this optimist could never have predicted. We’ve seen homes opened wide towards those fleeing war in ways plenty would usually object to. And we’ve seen technology advancing, not just theoretically but in practice, quicker than anybody predicted.

We talk about 2050 a lot at the moment. You’ll not be 30 by then. So, it’s time to stop talking, and start acting. I hope by then you’ll be thriving in a world that’s greener, cleaner, and fairer.

Lots of love,

Dad