<
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-11/anjali-sharma-taking-government-to-task-on-climate-change/103410358>
'Sometimes, teenage activist Anjali Sharma wonders what her life would be like
now if she had just flicked past those videos.
If she hadn't delved into research about temperature rises and coral bleaching,
about floods and melting sea ice. If the then 12-year-old had not been filled
with anxiety — and a need to act — as she connected climate change with the
crippling heatwaves endured by her relatives in India.
"There's been heaps of moments where I've kind of just wished that I could be a
teenager," Ms Sharma, now 19, tells
Australian Story.
"Because once you enter the world of environmental activism, you start to look
at the world in a completely different way."
Ms Sharma didn't just enter the world of activism, she burst into it. At 14,
she organised school climate strikes in her hometown of Melbourne; by 16, she
sued the then-federal environment minister Sussan Ley in a climate
change-related Federal Court case.
She's stood, daunted, in courtrooms where "everyone seemed so tall … so
professional … so well-dressed". She's watched via video link from her year 11
economics class as her landmark win against Ms Ley was handed down, the legal
jargon so foreign she wasn't sure if it was a win or not.
She's held hands with her young friends, devastated, as the victory was
overturned eight months later.
She's been called naive, trolled on social media, racially vilified,
patronised.
But Ms Sharma believes the world, her future, is on the brink of a climate
disaster and it's her right – duty even – to try to pull it back. So, while it
would be "quite nice" to be a normal teenager focusing "on the next exam … or
the next party and [not] have that sense of overwhelming worry about the
world", Ms Sharma's extracurricular activities are a tad unusual.
First, she tried the courts. Now, she's focused on the government, marshalling
a band of like-minded young people, lawyers and politicians to lobby federal
parliamentarians for legislative change.
Their goal? To have laws enacted that would compel politicians to consider
their duty of care to the health and well-being of future generations when
considering fossil fuel projects.'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
