Emma Yarwood's Letter

To my sons, Josh and Sam,

I'm sorry for my my generation and most of those in power (political, social, cultural) at the moment. I'm sorry that we've known for decades about the mess that we're getting the world into and we've been so very slow to act, and greed and ego have won so many of the battles and resulted in increasing climate impacts and the general destruction of nature, as well as increasing inequality in every sphere of the world, which makes it all worse and harder to fix. I'm sorry that as young people you find it so difficult to have conversations about the state of the world, because it makes you anxious and you're at the time of your lives when you understandably want to be focussed on you and fun and friends. I wish I could block it out like you are able to, but sadly I know too much and it keeps me awake at night.
But I hope when you're looking back to your childhood, that you can see that alongside the anxiety and stress, there were glimmers of hope that were the beginning of a real shift. If there could possibly be anything good coming out of Putin's appalling war in Ukraine maybe its the push for Europe to actually transform its energy sector and lead the world in achieving net zero. Maybe the British government has finally taken action on energy efficiency and home insulation as the simplest way to manage the energy crisis, and that will actually have far reaching long-term benefits that you're living now.
And alongside the potential repercussions of the appalling situation, there are already many many people doing many many good things for the planet. By the time you're reading this maybe the balance will have fully tilted to the sustainable side, and there are more options for ordinary people to make good choices. I hope that one day you understand the annoying choices I continually make on your behalf in order to support this shifting of the balance; why I think they're so important, even when they're not the most convenient.
More than anything I hope that the world you are living in is one in which both people and nature can thrive. And maybe you're doing things to help this happen and grow. And you are happy and thriving on a planet that is happy and thriving.