Since the old generation can’t change, perhaps the young generation won’t have to.
With 16-year-old Greta Thunberg leading Climate Action Week around the world while driving the climate awareness into homes all over, youth are learning that climate crisis is normal.
Doing things to slow it are also a necessary normal for the new generations.
And so, it was in that spirit that grandmother Kathryn Molloy, with many of her grandkids, and the parents of other Willows elementary school students, led the group to Willows on Tuesday morning.
They gathered on Monday night to make “Save the Earth” and “Save Humans” placards to go with their “Walking School Bus.”
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It’s a For Our Kids project, one of many projects Molloy is part of in her retirement. She was the executive director of Sierra Club B.C. from 2002 to 2009.
“I’ve made a career around sustainability, it’s a huge passion and as a parent and grandparent, I’ve got to do something and children have a very powerful voice,” Molloy said.
In 2002, Molloy helped organize the International Children’s Conference on the Environment at the University of Victoria.
It was there, even before Thunberg was born, that 500 youths aged 10 to 12 gathered from 60 countries.
“They made recommendations at that time for world leaders such as, ‘climate change should be on everyone’s political agenda,'” Molloy said.
And before Thunberg, there was Severn Suzuki’s talk that she gave to world leaders, particularly at the Rio Summit in 1992, and then again in 2002 in Victoria.
But the leaders didn’t listen. Molloy was one of many people who worked hard to show the reality of climate change.
Instead, for a time, she became apathetic. But no more.
“I want to encourage kids and others to be part of this, we need to support this action,” Molloy said.
It’s not just about teaching kids. It’s about leading the older generations too.
On Nov. 21, here in Oak Bay, Molloy is leading an ethical finance workshop at The Oaks restaurant.
“It’s to motivate grandparents, parents, and people, to divest from the fossil fuel industry,” Molly said. “I’ve divested from the fossil fuel industry and I make money on investments. You can do it.”
The ethical finance workshop is held with support from The VanCity, Investors Group and World Tree Carbon Offset program.
