In This Climate?

Thinking about the climate crisis can be daunting. Certainly, in the wake of recent news from the other side of the Atlantic, there’s a sense of hopelessness when it comes to the existential threat to our planet. With that in mind, it’s either the best time or the worst time to put together an entire editorial series about the climate.

Fortunately, I’ve found it to be the best. Just as our recent ‘Kick Some Class’ series sought to shine a spotlight on those helping to make things better for working class people in the arts, our new series ‘In This Climate’ takes a similarly positive approach. I’ve reached out to creative people using their particular corner of the arts world to raise awareness of the climate emergency and do their bit to help foster change. 

For example, Wren James writes punchy young adult fiction with themes around climate action, while comedian Stuart Goldsmith smuggles key climate science into our brains while we’re doubled over with laughter. All of these people play an important role in showcasing the grave nature of the threat we all face, while also entertaining us and putting a smile on our faces. That’s the secret sauce to making climate heroes of us all.

We’ve also been making some sustainability changes to the Voice website, tweaking some behind-the-scenes systems to decrease the carbon footprint of our pages. For example, every time our homepage now loads, it produces 70% less CO2 than it did before the changes. We hope to continue to evolve and make further sustainability changes in the future.

But the thing I’ve most enjoyed about this series is engaging the voices of our current Voice Contributors – an incredibly impressive group of young writers. They have produced some excellent articles about the climate, including an ode to David Attenborough, an intelligent critique of fast fashion, and a tale of an evening spent with Extinction Rebellion – to name just a few. You can read more of their work here.

It’s become a bit of a cliché to gesture at young people as if we expect them to solve the climate crisis created by their forefathers. But it’s impossible not to be inspired by their insight and optimism when given the opportunity to make their voices heard. I’ve only been a part of Voice since August, but things like this are already ensuring this is one of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever done.

At the end of our interview, the aforementioned Stuart Goldsmith quoted an amazing piece of advice from biologist Dr Sandra Steingraber, who said: “It’s up to us all now to play the ‘save the world symphony’. You do not have to play a solo, but you are required to work out what instrument you play, and play it to the best of your ability.”

If my instrument is opening the doors for young people to use their voice, then I’m happy to play it – and I hope that I can stay in tune.