I have recently posted an article about the film HOME, and at the end of that post I brought a video of 12-year old Severn Cullis-Suzuki lecturing world delegates during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, back in 1992. On this same day, I talked to a Canadian friend who then sent me another video of Severn, but now as a grown up woman. Her speech, during the Students for Sustainability Tour of the Canadian Federation of Students in Canada last year, was full of love and hope.

Many people say that we need to stick to scientific data when discussing climate changes, but I personally believe that the average citizen from any country (especially in the urban areas of developing nations) might not know the importance of controlling CO2 emissions, or the impact of the disturbance of the cycle of life in natural environments, neither the problems caused by the use of water to produce food and industrialized goods. To catch their attention, we need to resort to something that really touches their lives. We need to be sensitive and combine the use of information with the affection and love for our lives and our children’s lives. After all, “no one cares for the polar bears”.

Photo by Ng Swan Ti in the Oxfam International Flickr pool. This photo is under a Creative Commons license.

Anyway, Severn adds that what we are currently doing is an intergenerational crime towards our children and grandchildren. She highlights that, however, the intergenerational love we feel for them is exactly what will possibly save the next generations from dying. As she points out, there are plenty of stories of parents who sacrifice their lives for the sake of their children’s lives. Our own grandparents did the same for democracy and peace, while fighting in the world wars or against dictatorial states.

Nonetheless, a moment after watching her speech, I remembered another talk from a great figure in international politics. Gordon Brown, United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, talked to a broad audience in a TED Conference on the use of Facebook and the Internet to fight poverty in our society. Mr. Brown uses many images and pinpoints some activists’ works before the invention of the Internet. He mentions Eglantyne Jebb, from Save the Children, who was motivated by the love and the condition of children after the World War I to distribute leaflet by leaflet to the British people to raise awareness of this cause.

Gordon Brown adds that mankind can feel the pain of others, regardless of how distant they are. That said, whether we have climate change issues in Somalia, Indonesia or in China, citizens of other nations can be shocked with images and footage and will react to these events. But still, as I said previously, we are aware of the conditions, we feel it, we fear it, but yet, we don’t necessarily change it. Academics, journalists and web gurus say we are at the beginning of a new era. The era of information that spreads facts and opinions all over the world in a matter of seconds. We have never had the opportunity to discuss so much about so many things that threaten our own existence before. Why don’t use that? Why do we resist?

If I was to try to find causes for this resistance, I’d say people don’t believe in science any longer, neither in Journalism; in addition, the future is no longer in people’s plans: we have become hostages of the immediacy. Everything is so fast nowadays that we don’t have time to think carefully on our own plans. We don’t plan our lives; we just follow the flow of information and care for our daily survival in the information savannas. Journalists, on the other hand, appeal to the sensationalism, fear and economic disadvantages of the climate change, hence people become used to disgrace and fear through watching the daily news.

We need stories of people who love their countries and local communities. We need to teach people that everyone can make a difference to save the future, even if this difference is a little egoistic and they only care for their own family and close friends. Somehow citizen media might be very useful for this. Local stories matter, and writers are more passionate about what they do when they cover their neighborhoods. Moreover, the results they achieve are more reliable than those from international sources, in my humble opinion.

Journalism lack stories of unconditional love and people’s perspectives related to climate change. Maybe we bloggers can help them a little and do a great job by telling stories such as William Kamkwamba’s, a boy who harnessed the wind for the sake of his family. Or maybe those arising from the 2008 floods in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, when bloggers formed solidarity networks to help families in need because the mainstream media did not have useful information or promoted campaigns to help the affected population.

I hope that during the COP15, when the eyes of the world will look towards world leaders, the cold winds of Copenhagen will bring our voices to the discussion. I know everything is also a matter of money and business, but being human is like being open to many demonstrations of reason and emotions, and in order to find solutions for the world’s problems, the world leaders will have to be aware of people’s demands and condition. They will need to think about the consequences for their own population and families before signing any agreement.

I’m a 21-year-old man who has lots of plans for my life. For the most basic of them, I want to live in a future where I can breathe clean air and drink fresh water. I love living in big cities, but I want to see the natural environment and forests preserved. It’s a sense of love for the world, even though I will probably die before having the chance of seeing every little part of it. I want to make sure that my children and grandchildren can go to a beach or to a lake and experience the beauty and serenity of this planet. And to make sure their children and grandchildren will have the same right – not the privilege.

Photo by Flickr user fotdmike under a Creative Commons license.