Forty years ago, students in Paris stormed the physical and mental barricades of authority in an attempt to upend a system which they felt was unfair and exploitative. Even if the student revolts never really had the long-lasting impact that many had hoped they would, they left an indelible mark on the collective psyche. Comfortably ensconced in the trappings of power and money, today?s main decision-makers know pertinently well that the brunt of climate change probably won?t be felt in their lifetime. They thus feel relatively inured to the problem. Once again, it befalls youth to rattle the system into action.

The website www.takingITglobal.com is currently hosting a series of online discussions on climate change, offering young people from all over the world a forum to share their fears, hopes and ideas. The response has been astonishingly enriching. Take Morgan Goodwin, for example. This university graduate says that young people will be able to influence US environmental policy. ?Youth have a lot of power if we know how to use it. We should keep this discussion group and many others like it going. We are a new generation and we know how to build community online around a common goal.?

Esther Agbarakwe has written a probing article on the effects of climate change on her native Nigeria. ?The impacts of climate change in Nigeria serve as an example of what will happen in many other parts of Africa. From mangroves and rainforests on the Atlantic coast in the south to the savannah in the north bordering the Sahara, Nigeria has a variety of ecosystems. While excessive flooding during the past decade has impacted negatively on farming in coastal communities, desertification is ravaging the Sahel.?

?Many different communities, including fishermen, farmers and herdsmen are now confronted with difficulties arising from climatic changes. Peoples? livelihoods are being harmed, and already poor people are becoming even more impoverished. Climate refugees are being created, as climate change makes some land unlivable and impacts water supplies.?

The recurring theme of these discussions is that all the participants evoke the need for the youth organizations to coordinate their efforts in order to have a greater say and sway in the global decision-making process. Finland?s Tanja Kahkonen believes that ?the global youth climate change movement would unite all the youth organizations together first at a national level and then at regional and global levels?. This would allow the voice of the world?s youth to be heard when the high and mighty get together to make decisions that will impact on all our lives.

A friend of mine recently suggested that Mauritius should envisage hosting an international environmental film festival. That sounds like a surefire way of raising the country?s profile even further, as well as a creative outlet for tapping into the groundswell of ecological awareness that has begun to emerge over the past few years.

I?d go so far as to say that such an event is long overdue. I attended a human rights film festival in Geneva a couple of years ago and was impressed by what a potent force this type of event can be in terms of driving the message home. Who better to pull this off than a group of young and dynamic Mauritians?

Today?s youth needn?t brave teargas and truncheons in order to make a meaningful impact. The Internet is a far more powerful weapon than the bricks and sticks favoured by dissenters of old. Get together. Network. Protest. Now. As Esther Agbarkawe points out, failure to act could have unimaginable consequences. She concludes her missive with a simple yet thought-provoking question. ?What can we do? If this continues for the next 10 years, what do you think will happen??

You too can sign up to the Taking IT Global?s forum:

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