Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, second right, Autumn Peltier, Chief Water Commissioner of the Anishinabek Nation, right, Salvador Gomez-Colon, founder of Light & Hope for Puerto Rico, second left, and Natasha Mwansa of the Natasha Mwansa Foundation.
These four young activists, including Manitoulin Island's Autumn Peltier, have already been involved in a panel this morning at the World Economic Summit. It takes place annually at a swanky resort in Davos, Switzerland, and some critics ask why those concerned about the health of the planet would bother attending. It tends to be a gathering place for the wealthy whose economic interests do not lend themselves to radical change for the sake of the planet.
President Trump has already spoken at Davos, condemning "doomsayers". Note that he's at Davos but wasn't at COP25, the climate change conference in Madrid this past December. Of course Trump is a disaster for the environment, dismantling protections in the United States and an impediment to collaborative global action. Essentially he is the stereotype of the impulsive, petulant teenager and the teens are the adults in the room.
We can certainly pray for these remarkable young people and the movements they represent in various parts of the globe. They are prophets, "living with respect in Creation," and doing so in ways that challenge those whose greed and self-interest blinds them to the urgency of change.
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