Five years after the 2019 strikes, climate change hasn't gone away — and neither have youth activists

Five years ago, in the spring of 2019, I was pulled into the energizing and exciting orbit of the climate movement.

I was drawn into the youth movement by the uprising of young people fighting for an issue that I knew would define my future. I watched fellow teenagers take to the streets, walking out of class and into the halls of power to demand climate action. It quickly became clear how vast the movement was, with demonstrations taking place in every corner of the world. As someone who has always cared about the natural world, I didn’t want to just sit by and watch it unfold. I knew it was time to step up.

It was May 2019 when I attended my first strike in Peterborough, Ontario, where we walked out of class to City Hall; I was sixteen and had never been to a demonstration before. 

By September, I began playing larger roles in the climate demonstrations: helping organize them, coordinating speakers and media and building community. In Montreal, I participated in a march where Greta Thunberg joined 500,000 people in the largest strike in Quebec’s history. Back home in Peterborough, I presented to my city council along with classmates and other community members, urging them to declare a climate emergency. The motion was passed unanimously, joining the federal government and hundreds of other jurisdictions — municipal, First Nations, provinces and territories — to make such a declaration. It was a relief to see these levels of government acknowledging the emergency we were in. However, we all knew the declarations had to be followed by ambitious climate action — not more expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure. 

That September, the climate movement brought new energy to the streets, garnering the attention of hundreds of thousands of people, young and old. The marches shed light on the need to move away from fossil fuels and put pressure on political parties to step up their game on climate action.

Fast-forward five years. Although youth activists are less visible than we were in 2019, we are still here, just in new capacities. Those of us who were in the streets and at the forefront of the movement are no longer in high school; we are attending post-secondary or working, often in the environmental field. Importantly, we are now eligible to vote, and we exercise that right to further climate action. 

In 2025, people under 30 will represent 14 per cent of the electorate; millennials and Gen Z will form the majority of eligible voters. We are a massive and growing voter block, and although we don’t agree on everything, we do agree that climate change is a huge issue.

Five years later, we are still anxious and worried about our future. Governments have continued to make the problem worse by approving and investing in new fossil fuel projects. We see the impacts of climate change more clearly with every passing year. When I notice the sky is hazier than usual, I check the air quality levels, or wonder if there are active wildfires near enough to impact the people I love. 

Across Canada, individuals are being forced to evacuate their homes due to an increase in wildfires and floods, and all of us experience regular heat waves. Young people across the country are considering climate change when we think about where we want to live, if we want to have children and what kind of work we want to do.   

Elected leaders continue to talk down to us and make us feel as though we do not belong in decision-making spaces. We have been called ‘radical’, ‘inspiring’ and ‘the leaders of tomorrow’ among an array of other tokenizing names. Yet, we have not, and will not, be silenced or belittled by the very politicians failing to take the necessary action. We understand the urgency of this crisis, and we are willing to fight for it. 

It's easy to feel disillusioned and uninspired by what we're seeing from politicians, especially as Parliament resumes and parties gear up for the next federal election. Instead of proposing emergency-level climate plans, we're seeing our so-called leaders waffle on carbon pricing, or endlessly repeat rhyming slogans to tear up existing climate policy without any alternative plan for how to tackle this existential threat.

But there are so many opportunities to turn the page from the fossil-fuelled status quo to exciting and ambitious climate action. A Youth Climate Corps, to mobilize the energy of young people who want to help build a better world and bridge them into good green jobs. A windfall tax on oil and gas companies' record profits, to make sure polluters pay for the damage they're doing. Better support for people — especially those with low incomes — to invest in heat pumps and retrofits, so they can lower their energy bills and emissions at the same time. As voters prepare to head to the polls in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and British Columbia — and, sooner or later, across the country — these are just a few of the ideas for winning climate solutions leaders should be championing, that would tackle climate change while bringing people immediate, tangible benefits.

Five years may have passed since we took over the streets, but the urgency is greater than ever, and so is our deep desire for change on the issue that defines our present and future. I urge you to stand with us, and collectively keep fighting for ambitious climate action. 

There have been climate strikes in most major cities across Canada, amid a Global Week of Action for Climate Finance & A Fossil-Free Future. Our grandparents, teachers, and neighbours have turned October 1, National Seniors' Day, into a cross-country day for climate action, with marches in more than 70 cities. Join us in the streets. Vote for parties that have a real plan to address climate change. Meet with your elected officials and continue to show them this is an issue that Canadians care about. If you won’t save the planet for yourself, do it for us.

Malaika Collette is Climate Action Network Canada’s Youth Policy Assistant. She has spent years doing grassroots and youth-led organizing, and has also worked with Environment and Climate Change Canada on the National Framework for Environmental Learning. She is passionate about climate justice, environmental learning and advancing climate policy at all levels.