The power of youth to show the way

Abstract

When Greta Thunberg undertook her solo vigil outside the Swedish Parliament, she highlighted the failure of my generation. Her demand for meaningful action on climate change has come to symbolise that we are collectively letting down our youth, and those that follow. Here, in our place, the Easter release of Environment Aotearoa 2019 has unsurprisingly revealed a similarly perilous picture of ecological devastation and decline. Solutions are needed for our ongoing mismanagement of our soils, freshwater, and marine environments. And, they are out there. But their adoption is being stymied. Our youth is also now holding us to account, and are coming up with novel and pragmatic solutions.