Twenty-Forth Letter: A Just Recovery

Dear Mr. Prime Minister, and all those it may concern,

As a climate activist I spend a lot of time imagining the future. If you check out my website www.ameliapenneycrocker.com you’ll see all the 24 (and counting) letters I’ve written to you. In letter six I discuss my view of a horrible future, the future we want to avoid with climate action. But it is always important to know what you are aiming for. The future we want. So let’s imagine. 

First of all this future is one of equity. Abortion is a human right and one that everyone everywhere has without question. There is much more international cooperation, and countries with more water and food share willingly with countries that have less. Everyone has the right to a good education and equal opportunities. That is the world that we should be trying to get to, but how do we get there? First of all, COVID-19 has given us incredible pain and suffering but it also gives us an opportunity to build our international cooperation and for us to see ourselves as humankind. We have a chance to come together through this, and then we must stay together as we handle climate change. 

In this time we can develop a new sense of humanity to become better listeners. One group that needs to be listened to more are the indigenous people. We must listen to them and respect their human rights (side note, in is ridiculous that a developed country like Canada still doesn’t provide clean water to all communities). We have so much to learn from the indigenous people about the environment and I believe that listening to their perspectives and acting on their demands is the first step to a just recovery from COVID-19. We also must listen more to women. Some of the countries suffering the least under COVID-19 are run by women and it has been proven that if you give women seats at the discussion table the discussion is more likely to centre around the environment. Besides, if you don’t give us seats at the table we will as Shirley Chisholm said “bring a folding chair.”

The way to a new world must start by hearing everyone’s voice. We have enough on this planet for everyone’s needs, but not for everyone’s greeds, (credit to Joe Martin for that quote). We can save the environment while also compensating workers who will lose their jobs if we only try. COVID-19 has shown us the government has the capacity to provide resources to people in a crisis, and may I remind you climate change is a crisis.

I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Amelia Penney-Crocker