Ros's Letter

To my descendants,

Dear descendants,

I want to put on record how I feel about the climate crisis, it is the most important issue facing the world today. My hope is that you will read this and know that there were people, including your own ancestors, who cared about the world you would inherit and worked hard for its future..

I love the world and the world's population. I care about my daughters and my descendants. But I also care for people all over the globe, especially the most powerless and those who are already experiencing the effects of the crisis: people who have been displaced, people whose loved ones have died in floods and fires, people who are suffering from famine.

I am angry as I write this because we knew about the threat of global warming decades ago and we didn't listen to the scientists who warned us about it. I am angry with those with power, especially governments and fossil fuel companies. I'm also angry with people who are complacent about it. I fear the prospect of the climate crisis making our world more divided, with the wealthy being secure and provided for while the poor aren't. I fear that your future will be one where resources are fought over.

I admire the leadership given by climate scientists, those who are developing new technologies, and people who lead by example especially young people. They give me hope. I want the world in 2030 to feel safer than it does to me now, with people looking forward optimistically in the knowledge that everything possible is being done to save our planet: drastically reduced carbon emissions, no new investment in fossil fuels, renewable energy becoming the norm.

Yours, trying to be optimistic,

Ros