Faced with constant news of how climate change will leave their future less secure, the disillusionment among youth is being compounded by those in power not doing enough to address the warming world, the high cost-of-living and bleak housing prospects.
“There is so much appetite for movement and change right now that there’s some very big opportunities for making our communities a much better place.” “Building a workforce of young people eager to act for positive change in British Columbia is key to our work to build a clean and sustainable future for people in our province,” Heyman said in a statement. “This is part of our work to transition to cleaner energy, address the effects of climate change that we see today, and provide a more secure future for our kids and grandkids.”
“Among young people, there’s this sense of helplessness and we’ve seen that being able to have tangible impacts in their community has really helped with that mental health piece,” Simoni said.B.C. isn’t alone as U.S. President Joe Biden has formed an American Climate Corps to train young people and plant them in clean energy, conservation and climate resilience fields.
“The climate crisis is here now and young people in particular are worried and they’re also worried about their future in an uncertain economy,” she said. “Being able to tangibly engage in climate action is a remedy for that, it gives us hope, it gives us a path forward and this is what young people need right now.”