Hannah's Letter

To my darling sons,

I’m sorry that so many of my generation and those in generations before me thought that it was ok to plunder this beautiful earth, use up so many of her resources, pollute the oceans and rivers, chop down billions of acres of forests, and cause the extinction of so many animals and plants. I’m sorry that the planet earth you and your children will live in will be so different to the one I grew up in. The weather will no longer be as predictable and you’ll have more floods, fires and terrible storms. More and more animals and plants will become extinct. The air will become more and more dirty. There will be fewer places of natural beauty. Life will be harder.

There are many many people working so hard right now to try and make a difference and reverse the terrible damage that has been caused so that your future is not as bleak as the one I just described. I just hope that by the time you read this, the governments of every country in the world and large corporations that have done the most damage to the environment, have woken up and used their power for good. I don’t know if we’ll have reached net zero by 2050 but I’m sure as hell going to be doing my bit. Throughout your short lives I have taught you about the beauty and wonder of this planet and the importance of respecting it and taking care of it. I know that you will continue to do that and my dream is that the rest of the world will be doing that with you. Humans have shown that when we need to step up and take action we can do it - the COVID pandemic which affected 2 years of your childhood showed us that much. We just need leaders to step up and treat the climate emergency with that same urgency. I am sure that in time, they will realize that the harm being done will affect their future generations and act upon it - I just hope that by then it is not too late.

My lovely boys, now I have a message for all those leaders who are in a position to make real changes: stop thinking about money and power. The future of our children and their children is too important. What is the point of power and money if there is no inhabitable planet left. Please act now before it is too late.

With all my love,

Mum XXX