By Thais Lopez Vogel, VoLo Foundation
May is the month devoted to mothers. That’s why it’s the best time for all of us to talk about the biggest challenge this generation’s children will face in their lifetime: climate change.
Speaking at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue 2023, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “The truth is, on climate, we know what to do, when to do it and why. But, for too long, we have looked the other way.”
Women who have experienced motherhood do not look the other way. We face the problems that affect our children head-on. We confront them and we are used to overcoming them.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change tells us that it could be disastrous to exceed the 1.5°C temperature rise limit set by the Paris Agreement to halve global emissions by 2030.
However, temperatures will rise 2.8°C by the end of the century if we maintain current policies.
Is this the world we want to pass on to our children? No.
Then we must take action today.
Risk and the journey through unknown terrain is not something we mothers are afraid of. We are building our home day by day, thanks to the compass with which nature has equipped us.
That is why we have the tools to walk through this challenge that is as new as it is enormous, as complex as it is challenging. And we also have the certainty that we will make a difference.
Today’s mothers maintain the leadership in the care of the home, as they have since the beginning of time. It is a genetic trait that makes us the most efficient managers, allowing us to make the right decisions directly from the heart and work tenaciously on problems until they are solved.
But nowadays we also get involved in the affairs of our communities, we have increasingly more access to knowledge, and we stay informed. We know what role to play as citizens to contribute to the well-being of the place where our families live.
And we are aware of how powerful we can be when it comes to overcoming an obstacle that affects the quality of life of our children. Who agrees with me?
Mothers everywhere, the challenge is as follows: to halve global emissions by 2030 in order to meet the set limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius for the temperature rise. However, they are on track to increase by 10% by that date, compared to 2010.
This is not good news, but precisely because of that, we must act. And it is possible to achieve change if we take action now. Do we accept the challenge?
If we are concerned about the planet that the next generations will have to live on, we must take action today, and with passion.
Imagine the difference we can make in climate action when we take our own power generated from maternal instinct seriously.
Yes, let’s take on one more task for that agenda of occupations that we know how to handle so efficiently. From our homes, from our cars, from our daily tasks and in the midst of our household and family routine, let’s contribute to climate action. As with our children, one step at a time will take us a long way.
Thais Lopez Vogel is the co-founder and trustee of VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit foundation focused on science-based climate solutions, education and health. A mother of six, she participated in a recent “Moms vs. Climate Change” panel discussion with five other climate advocate professionals, who are also busy moms. Watch it below:
