Sustainability is not simply an ideology one can take, but a necessary sacrifice we must make as a species for our own self-preservation.
Perhaps you envision a climate change activist as a childish university student who shouts back the eco-friendly rhetoric they've heard online.
But believing in sustainability and ecopolitics does not make you an irrational, radical person.
In Germany, the Green party has risen to prominence as one of the largest parties in German democracy, even polling as the most popular for a brief amount of time.
This means that environmentalism is not a fringe, radical ideology. It has gone mainstream in a prestigious, well-developed country such as Germany, proving its value within our societies.
Green politics is no longer a heavily progressive, extremist following, but a unifying political affiliation. Built on the simple idea that we must do better for the future, it has attracted a wide, diverse voting base. It promotes a cultural unification and globalism. As a result, both young and old find themselves supporters of the German Green Party.
Furthermore, it is no longer a respectable, logical stance to stand defiant against the wave of green support, and claim the facts are fraudulent.
Some of the most esteemed and advanced scientific organisations have all come forward to acknowledge the existence of climate change, such as NASA, The Royal Society, Harvard, the United Nations, etc.
In a modern society, when one has access to the world's vast collective storage of information, it is unacceptable to deny climate change's existence when the evidence is everywhere.
Perhaps you think that it's just a few degrees of change. That it'll only get a little hotter and a little colder.
Let's say that the temperature changes by about 2 degrees. That's not much, right? If it were a normal day, then it would only be a little hotter, reminiscent of summer.
It very well could be, for you at least. As investigated by numerous scientific journals and research papers, we can expect a variance in temperature by 2 degrees to cause up to 1.5 months of heat waves. Furthermore, it would cause a 98% chance for an increase in coral bleaching, and a 16% reduction in wheat production, among other things.
Once again, perhaps you think that might not affect you. However, a 16% reduction in wheat means a lot for developing countries, where food is scarce. Imagine that there are a hundred people in a town, that are fed by 100 loaves of bread a day. If 16% of wheat production stop completely, then 16 loaves of bread wouldn't be produced.
Thus, 16 people go hungry.
They aren't the only ones who are impacted by this.
Simply put, supply and demand means that low supply will increase prices. You could as far away from the physical effects of climate change as you like, but if 16% of the world's food supply disappears, then your wallet will suffer the increased price of basic foods.
Recently, Australia went through a food supply crisis, when shortages, when the food supply chain broke down as a result of the pandemic.
Although it wasn't caused by climate change, food supply shortages can even affect first world nations such as Australia.
Now, perhaps you attribute green politics to socialism, and wholeheartedly believe that it goes against your conservative political views.
I personally disagree, as I believe that environmentalism can be one of the most traditional ideologies out there.
The whole goal of ecopolitics is to conserve the natural world around us.
To ensure that the next generation and their children can enjoy the same world that we currently reside in.
A world of beauty, passion, and freedom.
Sounds rather conservative, right?
Thus, it is irresponsible and irrational to think that sustainability is a radical, uncontrolled, deceitful ideology. It is essential that you truly believe and contribute to building a safe, sustainable global environment, before it's too late.
