Your excellencies,
Youngsters should be preoccupied with optimistically preparing their future with confidence and a feeling of self-agency. The more saddened and shocked we, the European Grandparents for Climate, are when hearing that young people in Denmark are driven to a hunger strike because of the irresponsible negligence of the government as far as climate protection is concerned. The demands of the youngsters are:
- A high and targeted CO2 tax on agriculture
- That the polluters must pay – not the tax payers
- That we must support plant-based production instead of polluting animal production
These demands are reasonable and backed by science. We as European Grandparents for Climate support these demands. It is a shame that these urgent and necessary steps are not taken because the economic interests of strongly lobbying players prevail over the existential needs of humanity.
A hunger strike is self-harming and born of despair, usually a last resort, nothing that young people should experience. Furthermore, this is not the first instance of young people taking this extreme step. It has happened in the UK and in Austria before. For any society that should be a sign of utmost alarm if its young people resort to self-harm because they are witnessing the basis for their future being destroyed. We ask all European governments to assume their responsibility and do their best to avoid further irreparable harm to the climate and the environment and to protect the future of the coming generations.
Kind regards,
Dr. Godela von Kirchbach, Eva Riemer
Co-chairs of the European Grandparents for Climate