Strategy 2030

Non-Fiction

by Amie Walker

I am trying. Trying to be the world that you deserve. Trying to plaster a smile onto my face, despite the many cracks. For two-million-years, I have watched you flourish, expressing yourselves through cave art, engravings on flint, hieroglyphics, statues, and even graffiti. I have watched as you find your independence and explore my many terrains, creating intelligent languages and cultures along the way. You have become a staple to me and a species I am grateful to have raised. 

However, I see my efforts are not being recognised as I would have hoped. Being almost five billion-years-old, I am slowing. A poison resides within me like a parasite manipulating innocent creatures and carrying them to their deaths. I do not blame you. I couldn’t. No matter how many forest fires may char my insides and how many oil spills may choke me, I will still stand by you. 

I am heating. It is a fever I cannot control. Power plants and landfills like the flame that I roast under, only moments away from spoiling. I am trying to fix this for you, but I might need a little help this time. I see how many of you wear your blinders to my torture. Maybe it is because you can’t stand the results of your actions. No matter. There is a likely explanation, I am sure. 

I am the ocean. I am the forest. I am the desert. All my pawns are being defeated one by one. I won’t deny my frustration. I am trying… I am trying to fix your mistake. To fix your blindness to the truth. I am trying. How much longer will I have to try before you see the need to change? The urgency to act before it becomes irreversible. 

I don’t know how much longer I will be able to cater for you. The future is melting, burning into ash, and evaporating into nothingness. My oceans have become trash cans and forests, incinerators. Two of the most vital life sources are being destroyed. Is it greed? I have all the resources you could possibly need, why do you yearn for more?

There is a simple solution, though. An antidote to my sickness and a break in the storm.  Sustainable efforts are taking place. They are small at the moment, but they help, nonetheless. Green energy through twirling turbines and basking solar panels allow my smile to shine brighter. Protests of thousands, armed with signs and determined voices make me proud once more. ‘There is no planet B. Human change not climate change. Choose eco not ego.’ Listen to your peers. 

So, bare the soggy paper straws and short, lukewarm showers; reuse your plastic bags and recycle, and deny the temptation of fast fashion. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. Ordinary people can be powerful. 

And yes, you can ignore me. But I am trying…