With the ticking time bomb of climate change, more young activists are feeling an urgent need to speak up and take action.

In light of the Earth Day which fell on Friday this year, The Herald Business and nonprofit organization Green Environment Youth Korea held an online roundtable session with young environmental activists across Asia, sharing their experiences and thoughts.

Nurul Sarifa from Indonesia, who represents KPOP 4 Planet, a platform which calls on Korean entertainment agencies to take part in climate change response, Chuck Baclagon from the Philippines who has worked at various international environmental activist groups and more participated in the event.

Here are some extracts from the discussion.

Q: Have you ever experienced “climate grief”?

Nurul Sarifa, Indonesia, founder of KPOP 4 Planet
It is really normal for us to feel depressed once in a while because we see how people can be careless and we wish we knew less. Seeing how climate disasters happen annually, it makes me feel the grief of losing something we value.

Kohana Yanagisawa, Japan, member of Climate Youth Japan
Luckily, we sometimes have the opportunity to talk with the decision makers, but I doubt about how much our voices are actually heard. 

Kim Ji-yoon, co-head of Green Environment Youth Korea
Sometimes, it feels like I am useless. I want to neglect the facts, I want to use a lot of plastic and do not care about what I am doing. But after knowing all (about environmental impacts that humans have on Earth), I cannot turn a blind eye. The knowledge has actually restricted my lifestyle and I feel a sense of gloom.

Q: In an era of climate change, some are not sure about having kids. What do you think?

 

Jia-yi Lin, Taiwan, member of Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition
When it comes to kids, people will care a lot about health. Maybe by the time we retire, you are going to pay more for everything, including making life suitable for kids. 

Nurul Sarifa, Indonesia, founder of KPOP 4 Planet
Especially in Indonesia, it is not a very good place to have children. Because of the climate crisis, we experience floods every year and we have to move. It is really tiring.

Q: How is the use of plastic regulated in your country?

Kohana Yanagisawa, Japan, member of Climate Youth Japan
Japan has introduced a plastic shopping bag levy from July 2020. However, it is not enough. Japan is the second-largest generator of plastic packaging waste in the world.

Leon Yang, Taiwan, member of Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition
The Taiwanese government requires all food and drink shops to charge 15 cents for each single-use cup. It is not much, counting for up to 20 percent of the original drink price. It is hard to regulate the traditional markets though.

Nurul Sarifa, Indonesia, founder of KPOP 4 Planet
We do not have any recycling management. As for the government, the authorities are planning to introduce a single-use plastic ban but it is going to happen in 2030 which is eight years from now, it feels far behind.

Q: What are the motivations behind your actions? 

Chuck Baclagon, Philippines, Asia Finance Campaigner at 350.org
The Philippines is a country where it is dangerous to be an environmental activist. I try to be strategically optimistic. We try to respond to realizable issues.
 

Leon Yang, Taiwan, member of Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition
We are now thinking of working on some more creative projects, such as connecting climate change future scenarios with sci-fi narratives. The goal is to have people take interest in these issues.

Kim Ji-yoon, co-head of Green Environment Youth Korea
Some reports say the continent of Asia will be the most affected by climate change. Even though we are in different situations and come from different backgrounds, we have to collaborate and gather together.

By Kim Sang-su, Choi Jun-seon, Im Eun-byel (dlcw@heraldcorp.com) (human@heraldcorp.com) (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)