Louisa's Letter

To my daughter, Georgia,

I hope the future you are living in is one with increasing bio-diversity, green spaces, where we have recognised we don't need to consume so much to thrive. I am scared that it won't be - but instead we will be facing irreparable damage to our planet - even though it's the only one we've got and if we break it, we won't be able to fix it.

I want you to know I have really tried. We cut back on our water usage, we minimised our use of power and switched to one electric car for the whole family instead of multiple vehicles. We reduced our consumption of meat and cut out using plastic bags as much as we could. I signed every petition I could find to ask the governments repeatedly to stop investing in fossil fuels, to stop businesses ripping up the biodiversity in the UK and across the world, to create rules to stop the fish stocks being ripped from the seas, to force the reduction of plastic use and not only recycle less but create more opportunities to avoid over-creating things that needed recycling in the first place. I asked them again and again to be brave and stop pushing back deadlines because they were inconvenient or expensive to businesses. I supported people shifting from work where they felt they were making the problem worse into roles where they felt they could make a difference - and celebrities joined the fight. But the governments repeatedly took a short-term view only again and again, fed by the businesses constantly pushing their agenda and not the agenda of the people the politicians are supposed to serve.

The government didn't listen. Again and again - they ignored what people wanted. I am so scared they will keep only listening to big business demands and not to what we want!

I want us to have a future where we finally understand the importance of protecting and working with our planet and all its natural resources instead of stripping it and destroying it in our ignorance - and wilful avoidance.

I hope that by the time you read this, action will have been taken. That the brave politicians will take a stand knowing they are backed by the people they serve - and we will be able to be proud of our country and our world.