The environmental movement is a social movement that “seeks to protect the natural world and promote sustainable living.” It dates back to the conservation movement of the 1900s and has since consisted of various smaller movements within the movement as a whole. Currently, the most important environmental movement is the climate change movement, specifically the youth climate change movement. Over the past decade, youth leaders have taken the world by storm and created their own youth climate movements because they are unhappy with the efforts (or lack of efforts) made by older generations to protect the planet. The emergence of young leaders has led to climate change and environmental issues becoming part of mainstream culture, something that has not been the case with earlier environmental movements. Today's youth climate movement is more effective than previous environmental movements because of the use of social media, technological advances, and because young people view this crisis as a moral imperative. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay To begin with, social media benefits the youth movement in several ways. First, leaders of the youth climate movement used social media to bring together more people around the world. This allows like-minded people to connect and organize much larger and more organized protests than in previous years, making the movement more effective. For example, on September 20, 2019, “citizens from all 50 U.S. states and more than 150 countries, from Germany to Australia, took to the streets to declare a climate emergency in a global climate strike. student-led climate”. These protests were inspired by 17-year-old Greta Thunberg and her #FridaysForFuture movement. #FridaysForFuture began with Thunberg leaving school alone to protest, but through her use of social media it has become a global movement. Along the same lines, social media has benefited the youth climate movement by enabling powerful youth leaders to unite young people around the world. Many young people often feel like their opinions don't matter or that they can't make an impact, but by exposing them to youth leaders such as Greta Thunberg and Jamie Margolin, young people are inspired to act. “Greta Thunberg's actions sparked a movement,” said Jake Woodier (a climate activist): “In a world where we often feel individualized and atomized, where we are small and cannot make a difference, Thunberg has been a huge inspiration to many young people.” It is a well-known fact that there is strength in numbers, but to succeed, you need a leader with whom the followers can associate better. with youth leaders, not only because of their common age, but also because these leaders are micro-celebrities. This means that youth leaders are ordinary people who have become famous through the use of. online media, thus making them more similar to their peer followers Then, by bringing together such a large and diverse group of people, the youth leaders' use of social media was successful in attracting public attention. the issue and to integrate climate and environmental issues into themainstream media. The visibility of the movement on social networks and in the press created a feedback loop. Even if young people can't actually pass laws, all the media attention they've received puts pressure on those who can. For example, in July 2019, German Chancellor Angela Merkel cited pressure from young activists as one of the reasons her government plans to act more aggressively to reduce carbon emissions. Furthermore, across much of Europe, the youth strike movement has helped put climate change high on the political agenda of policymakers and voters. Overall, the youth climate movement's use of social media has made the movement more effective as it inspires and unites young people and puts pressure on governments to make the environment a priority. Second, advances in technology greatly benefit the youth climate movement for a variety of reasons. First, there are many different types of technologies that track damage to the Earth. “Satellites orbiting Earth and other technological advances have allowed scientists to see the whole picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its inhabitants. the climate on a global scale. This set of data, collected over many years, reveals signals of climate change. » Subsequently, this technological improvement made it possible to conduct more in-depth research into the damage caused and currently being caused to the planet. . In the past, most people did not believe that climate change was real, but all the technical advances and new technologies for tracking damage to the planet have provided researchers with compelling evidence that climate change is real. Most importantly, almost all of this research is easily accessible online. Having all research easily accessible empowers people of all ages to learn and take action. With these technological advances, governments can no longer deny the effects of human activity on the planet and therefore cannot deny movement as easily as before. Finally, the most important way in which technological advances benefit the youth climate movement is that there are currently technologies that can be used to prevent and/or reverse the effects of climate change. Some of these technologies include sustainable energy (solar, hydroelectric, wind), electric cars, GMO products, plant-based meat products, supplements for livestock to reduce their methane emissions, and elimination technologies carbon. These technological advances allow young people to recommend new solutions and develop their own solutions. Therefore, those in power can no longer pretend that there are no solutions or that technology is not sufficiently advanced, because solutions exist and the youth movement knows it. By being informed about these technological solutions, young people are able to approach and convince those in power to save the planet differently than in the past. In the past, implementing technology and/or legislation to protect the environment was more difficult due to the limited technology available which required governments to go all out and invest in expensive products and for which there was not much research on the success rate. Thanks to all these advances, young people are able to discuss waysproven to reverse the effects of climate change. The youth movement therefore simply needs to convince those in power that these investments are worth it. For example, youth leaders may try to convince companies to offer electric or hybrid company cars rather than gasoline cars, because known gasoline reserves may only last 52 more years. This means that in the not too distant future, gas prices will rise as it becomes harder to find and it will actually be cheaper to use greener cars. While it is troubling that many have to be convinced that saving the planet is profitable rather than doing it because it is the right thing to do, it remains an effective way to protect the planet. In conclusion, advancements in technology greatly benefit the youth climate movement because they make it possible to track the effects of climate change and provide the youth movement with effective solutions that can be used to initiate the necessary change in society. The youth climate movement is also more effective because it treats this crisis as a moral imperative. A moral imperative is defined as “something that must happen because it is the right thing.” Young people perceive this movement as such, because it has the most impact on their future. They see it as a profound injustice and an existential threat for their generation and those that will follow. The impact of climate change on young people has also been highlighted by many in older generations, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who has supported the school climate strikes that have taken place in the world, declaring: “My generation did not react correctly. to the dramatic challenge of climate change. This is deeply felt by young people. No wonder they’re angry.” Additionally, this new vision of climate change allows this movement to be more effective than previous environmental movements, because their message is no longer just an environmental message, it is now a human-environmental message. Harriet Thew, a social and environmental scientist at the University of Leeds, UK, notes that "more and more people are talking about people's problems and really recognizing the connection between humans and the environment." . Their message is not about saving the rainforest or saving the whales; it’s about saving the most vulnerable people on the planet. Young people also see this crisis as a moral imperative, because the damage to the planet is so great that many young people say they cannot imagine bringing their own children into the world. Lana Perice (a youth activist) went so far as to say that “having children is unethical. It’s literally a house on fire.” This perspective highlights how unethical it is not to attempt to save our planet because, according to section seven of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, “every person has the right to life, liberty and to the safety of his person.” The longer society waits to implement environmentally friendly policies, the more aggressive it will have to be and impose its freedom. In summary, viewing this issue as a moral imperative makes the youth climate movement more effective than previous environmental movements because it places ethics at the center of the movement. Many people do not believe climate change is real and may dispute its effects. . The first counter-argument to address is that young people have no impact.