Dear Mr. Prime Minister and all those it may concern,
My name is Amelia Penney-Crocker, I’m fourteen years old and I write you a letter every week. As a child we are all taught fairness, and not to be unfair to our friends and classmates. But the greatest example of unfairness is not in the elementary classroom.
Rich countries (and the rich people in them) are by and large the ones responsible for the Climate Crisis. We are the ones wearing fast fashion and throwing it out again. We are the ones driving around in massive cars. We are the ones who fly on planes to fun holidays. We have the money and the resources to do all of that; we also have the money and resources to fight climate change. We can build renewable energy plants and stop the construction of pipelines. We can do that. But if we don’t? It’s going to come back to bite us of course, but do you know who it will bite first? The people in poor countries. The people who already don’t have enough food water and clothing to go around. The people who already walk miles for water, the children already can’t go to school; they are the ones that will suffer first if we fail to do what is necessary.
But luckily, it doesn’t have to be this way. I’ve said it often in other letters, and I’ll say it again in this one. There is still time. There is another way. We can do this. We can not only stop the conditions in poor countries from becoming worse, but we can even improve them through collaboration and generosity. Work with other rich countries to support the poorer countries in their efforts to reach the standard of living that we already have here in Canada.
Thank you very much for reading my letter. I know that you and your staff are very occupied with the covid-19 crisis and on top of that looking after your children. On that note, I wish your wife a swift recovery. But I can’t let you forget about the other major crisis threatening billions of lives at this moment.
I hope you’re having a wonderful day!
Amelia Penney-Crocker