The final Friday of the month means it’s time for We Are the World Blogest, a day for promoting positive news. It’s especially lovely that this month marks the second year anniversary of this monthly blogfest. It delights me to participate as an agent of pronoia highlighting feel-good news stories for us all to celebrate.
Co-hosting the project this month are: Shilpa Garg, Sylvia McGrath , Belinda WitzenHausen, Dan Antion, Damyanti Biswas. Do check out their posts, along with everyone else participating, and feel free to join us here.
Greta Thunberg is a 16-year environmental activist from Sweden, and she’s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
You can read more about her and this story here.
I also encourage you to listen to her 10-minute TED talk from last August, She’s inspiring, determined, a force to be reckoned with.
The Nobel Peace Prize is meant to be awarded for outstanding contributions to those who “have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.
What can sometimes be less obvious are the ways in which climate change and its impacts contribute to insecurity, displacement, and conflicts. In fact, most major armed conflicts of the past decades have an important link to the mismanagement of natural resources and the environment
While it’s fair to say it is unlikely Ms. Thunberg will be short-listed for the prize, let alone win, I think we need to celebrate the magnitude of this nomination. To a teen; to a female; to the understanding of the vital role our environment plays in the delicate balance of unity between nations and people that makes peace even a possibility. Climate change and its impact most definitely contributes to insecurity, displacement of people, and conflicts. In my mind it will be the effects of climate change and the devastating effects that need to be addressed that will unify us in way that nothing else seems to have been able to.
I have great respect for the young people of our world who bring their brilliant fierceness, unbridled determination and uncompromising convictions to the table. It’s time to celebrate them, support them, and renew all efforts help them as they are left with the problems of a world we have yet to find solutions for. I am grateful Greta Thunberg is here, and may galvanize a movement that creates an unstoppable wave of environmental activism and ultimately global peace.
The young people these days are much better activists than I was in my day. They are confident, vocal and creative. I admire them too and know that they’ll change the world for the better.
The world needs as many creative unimagined solutions as we’re able to generate and implement, and I’m confident our young people are up to the task. Our job is to support, encourage, and add our power to their momentum.
The world needs more of Greta. I hope her work continues to spread. Funny how we both posted about this amazing girl! 🙂
She’s definitely worthy of a double celebration. 🙂
She is worthy of a Nobel Prize. She’s galvanized us all. Perhaps because she’s only 16 we are more amazed but she’s on the button in challenging those (who should know better) and as a role model to her peers. Great post Deborah –
I think you’re right Susan. It’s exciting to see an impassioned young woman. And while we can, and should in my opinion, remark upon her tender age – it’s really more about the precious moment when we know by someone’s actions that a light has been lit within them. Expansiveness and possibility suddenly seem more accessible for all of us.
What started as a solo protest, inspired the students around the globe. Greta is a true hero and that she is so young and passionate about our environment is truly awe-inspiring. Thanks for sharing her story, Deborah and thanks for participating in this special edition of #WATWB! Cheers ♥
It’s powerful to understand a committed stand can inspire others, thus growing exponentially. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more from Greta in the future, and that will be quite exciting.
Hari OM
I too am super-impressed with the commitment of the likes of Greta. In the recent horror in Christchurch, some of the most impressive and peaceful responses arose from the youth community. There IS hope for our world!!! YAM xx
I truly believe that as well – there IS hope, and our youth can head us in new directions.
I greatly appreciate your perspective on the connection between climate change and peace. I also appreciate your celebration of Greta Thunberg. I wrote about her a couple weeks ago. She is profoundly on target. I admire her honesty and dedication to the welfare of the earth.
I love that you wrote about Greta as well – she certainly is worthy of a great deal of attention. I’m kind of surprised that the connection between climate change and peace isn’t spoken of more often. Here’s hoping we make exponential progress in the right direction with both things very soon indeed.
Oh yes I am also very grateful for her and the children standing up and have supported their climate protest here. It is the children who are going to make changes as many adults are set in their ways and lifestyle I think and don’t want to know how serious it is.
I am so admiring of this young environmental activist, Greta, and how she fearlessly tells it like it is. I agree with Margaret, she’s like many of the young activists today “confident, vocal and creative. ” And so knowledgeable; she’s done her homework. Hats off to Deborah for sharing such an inspirational post!
We’re lucky to have treasures like Greta and other young people who are already committed to creating change. I think nothing will serve us better than a wellspring of impassioned, creative awareness to inspire us into needed action.
Hi Deborah – I see quite a few #WAWTBers have written about Greta – tells us she’s hit the mark … and her profile will continue to prompt u,s in the western world particularly, to take that step back and to think about what we’re doing … we need to think too – sadly so many don’t … we need to do away with being personally selfish.
Excellent post for the 2nd anniversary of #WAWTB … cheers Hilary
Yes, it makes me smile that a number of us found Greta inspiring enough to share. May we always be remember to be mindful!
yes ditto with all expressed above, greta has definitely lit a spark that is capturing hearts and minds all over the world and igniting Action. I met a woman middle years sitting on a bench with a banner laid out beside her , outside the office of our local member of parliament. I stopped to chat as you do and she told me she had been inspired by greta and was going to sit there every friday engaging people in conversations about ice and water and earth and plastics and oceans etc…
I feel the tide is turning..
See that’s the thing I really love Sandra, that lights my heart. To hear about someone being influenced into their own action, their own passion, their own path, as though a tiny spark is passed. It’s not even necessary that we know who passed it, although it is lovely when we can offer eye-to-eye heart-to-heart expressions of gratitude, but that’s not actually necessary. It’s simply the act of awareness pulsing through our own world, and the collective at large. And one of the things I most appreciate about you Sandra is your ability to see this. Even if perhaps you don’t always understand how great a spark passer you are yourself.