A story about being moved into action by anger, helplessness and anxiety by Roberta Bonacossa, 30 yr, Pavia, Italy.
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Roberta is co-founder and president of Change For Planet, an association of young people for the environment. She has participated as a delegate and observer in the United Nations Climate Conference, and organised events and festivals for young people on environmental and social issues.
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The title of this story is a phrase that I have heard many times, on social media, from adults, from other young people. A bit like saying that nothing can change.
Why is this sentence related to climate change?
For me it all started with the young people. I was young too. Around the age of 24 I was writing my thesis on the interconnections between climate and human rights, navigating the difficulties experienced by developing countries, the destruction of natural disasters, and the projections of the coming decades.
The feelings that moved me were those of anger, often helplessness and anxiety. I felt alone and far from being able to do anything.
Meanwhile, that vision of young people who were not active resonated in some part of my unconscious mind, but it remained there, without taking shape.
One day, thanks to social networks, I saw a girl who wanted to organise a conference dedicated to young people and the climate. I thought: let's do it!
And 6 months later I found myself with 180 boys and girls from all over Italy to talk about the environment. A wave of energy, passion and motivation that changed my view of the world and perhaps of life.
I chose to start from this phrase because we still hear it today. In many senses from political manipulation that wants to paint the new generations as do-nothings and from many young people who feel blocked in the face of an uncertain future.
Well, what I can say is that, that single moment, that single event, that single conversation led me to become president and co-founder of Change For Planet, an association dedicated to youth empowerment for the climate.
To become an activist.
To turn my passion into a job. Often all of us don't feel like doing something. But starting, even when we are afraid, is the first step to generating change.