Is there hope for the future?

Your children will not have the life you had. But does that mean that you shouldn't have them at all?

That is the question young people are asking in a world that is being increasingly threatened by the impacts of climate change.

Bronwyn Opie grapples with the divide between her advocacy and personal desires for her future.

“You’ve got these dreams that you’ve had since you were a little kid that have now been tainted,” she says.

Hear Bronwyn talk about the climate crisis and how it impacts the way she envisions her future.

Driving through a green, mountainous landscape on my way to a cafe on the outskirts of Cairns, Far North Queensland, discussing impeding ecological collapse is not at the forefront of my mind. As rows of sugar cane dissolve into lush rainforest, my existential anxiety eases.

As we sit at a cafe thats only minutes away from heritage listed rainforests and reefs, Bronwyn describes her role as Climate Organiser for the Cairns and Far North Queensland Environment Centre.

Committing her days to advocating for climate action through collaborating with communities and communicating with decision makers, she then goes home to her partner and tries to live a normal life.

“I'm at the age where my partner and I want to buy a house and you know settle down, get married, have babies…it’s an exciting time in a young person's life,” she says.

But for Bronwyn, her work and advocacy for climate action increasingly conflicted with these lifestyle desires, resulting in significant anxiety and her seeking therapy.

“…it reached a point where I just didn't know how to cope with it…I was so overwhelmed thinking about the future, and not only thinking about it when I read it an article but thinking about it every day 9-5.”

A doomed planet

Climate change, and it’s catastrophic impacts are now an unavoidable reality, with a 1.5 degree increase in warming now inevitable - along with its disastrous consequences. In a world where corporations persist with gravely unsustainable practices, and politicians (literally and metaphorically) don’t ‘hold a hose’, it is unsurprising that young people overwhelming believe that the planet has reached the point of no return.

A 2020 study surveying over 10,000 young people across 10 different countries found that 56% of young people believe humanity is doomed. Furthermore, another study, which surveyed 600 people aged 27 to 45, found that 96% were very or extremely concerned about the wellbeing of their potential future children in a climate-changed world.

These statistics reflect the prevalent climate-anxiety of young people globally, who are faced with a complex existential question - is it ethical to have a child in a climate changing world?

56% of young people believe humanity is doomed.

'Young People's Voices on Climate Anxiety, Government Betrayal and Moral Injury: A Global Phenomenon', 2020

The BirthStrike

The moral implications of bringing new life onto a planet threatened by ecological collapse is not a concern restricted to the quiet anxieties of young people.

Miley Cyrus has vowed not to have a baby on a “piece-of-shit planet.” United States Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described these rising concerns as logical, referring to the “…scientific consensus that the lives of children are going to be very difficult.”

American singer-songwriter Miley Cyrus has vowed not to have children on a "piece-of-shit planet."

American singer-songwriter Miley Cyrus has vowed not to have children on a "piece-of-shit planet."

Perhaps most prominently however, are the BirthStrikers in the UK, who refuse to procreate until effective climate action is enacted. In the first two weeks of BirthStrike’s establishment, 140 people declared their decision to not have children due to the severity of the climate crisis.

Founder of the organisation, Blythe Pepino, aimed to channel her ecological grief into a political movement, drawing attention to the gravity of the crisis whilst critiquing the pro-natalist nature of society.

“…I suppose we were playing with the shock element of disagreeing with that (pro-natalism) in order to show how fucked up things are, basically," she said.

Extinction Rebellion climate protest poster

Blythe Pepino, Founder of BirthStrike

Is individual sacrifice the answer?

Having a child is widely regarded as the worst thing an individual can do regarding their carbon emissions, with one child equating to 58.6 tonnes of carbon each year.

However, responsibility of the individual consumer has long been apart of the corporate greenwashing strategies of accountability-dodging fossil fuel companies.

More than a third of all greenhouse gas emissions since 1965 can be traced to just 20 fossil fuel companies. Despite this fact, big polluters continue to push the onus of sustainability onto consumers, whose individual carbon footprints are dwarfed in comparison.

In light of corporate contributions to climate change, the debate around the impacts of individual family planning seem inconsequential.

Move Beyond Coal is an Australian-based movement that is well aware of this reality, and campaigns to solve Australia's biggest contribution to the climate crisis - coal.

Sophie Middleton, leader of Move Beyond Coal Newcastle, saw the movement as an opportunity to be involved in tangible, effective climate action.

Sophie Middleton, leader of Move Beyond Coal Newcastle

Sophie Middleton, leader of Move Beyond Coal Newcastle

“…climate change isn't something that I can just not think about for a day…it’s like an existential crisis.”

“Taking action helps to reduce that anxiety,” Sophie says.

As a young woman herself, the ethical considerations of having children is something she continues to grapple with.

“I've always been really maternal and really wanted to have a few kids to be honest…I’ve really thought hard about whether that's something that would be ethical and whether that's something that I could feel okay about - bringing somebody into the world knowing that this (climate change) is happening,” she says.

For Sophie and many other young people, taking action is an embodiment of their hope for a better future.

“…the only reason I have not made a decision about it so far is because I still have a little bit of hope…maybe there's a future where it's safe and ethical to bring children into the world," Sophie says.

Hear Sophie speak about climate change, her desire to have children, and hope.

Living a double life

Bronwyn describes how she overwhelmingly felt that her devoted advocacy and genuine desires for her life were so contradictory that she was living out two variations of herself - a double life.

“…worrying about climate change and the way that the future could be unliveable… it makes you question your decisions for sure. You do kind of live this double life.”

“I was neglecting relationships and neglecting things that made me happy because I felt like I couldn't be happy," Bronwyn says.

Through talking with her therapist, Bronwyn describes the learning process in which she discovered that to have more than one value is not inauthentic or contradictory.

“She (Bronwyn’s therapist) said, ‘you’ve got all of these amazing values, but you're holding this one so tight that there's no room for anything else,” she says.

Bronwyn describes how balancing her climate action work and her personal life has been a learning process.

“Me being miserable actually doesn’t help…it actually means that I'll get burnt out and I won't be able to keep doing this really important work, so I’ve found that doing the things that make you happy and maintaining a life outside of activism is really important,” she says.

'Climate Action Now' sign (distributed by CAFNEC) at Trinity Beach, QLD.

'Ecotone' CAFNEC's Quarterly Magazine

A sincere expression of hope

Bronwyn’s hope is contagious as she enthusiastically informs me of recent positive wins in the climate action space. The First Nations people of the Tiwi islands won their case against Santos over drilling for gas in their traditional waters. Origin Energy has pulled out of the Beetaloo Basin. Eight Torres Strait Islanders won a historic legal fight against the Australian Government for inaction on climate change.

“I've definitely felt this growing fire of hope and excitement about where we can take this and how much more we can do,” Bronwyn says.

The climate crisis is still a dire situation that will continue to generate disastrous impacts for both the environment and society, however Bronwyn still has hope for the future of the planet.

“What we're facing is such a global problem that needs global cooperation now more than ever. I think the fear is that we won't reach that in time, but I don't think that’s a reason to give up hope.”

Both Bronwyn and Sophie are still deeply concerned about the ways in which climate change will impact their futures and the lives of their potential children. However, they also both possess a palpable hope for the future.

Their energy, enthusiasm and devotion to climate action is refreshing, and reignites my hope.

Driving back from my meeting with Bronwyn, looking out onto the same lush rainforest that envelopes the mountains, I reflect on a profound statement that she told me towards the end of our conversation.

“…having a child is maybe the most sincere expression of hope that one can have.”

- Bronwyn Opie

Image: Sophie Jaggers