Hundreds join teen-led pledge not to have kids until climate change is addressed

Hundreds of teens are pledging to not have children until the government addresses climate change. 

Eighteen-year-old Emma Lim, from London, Ontario, Canada, launched the #NoFutureNoChildren pledge, and hundreds of American teens have reportedly joined in, according to Insider. 

More than 796 people have joined the pledge so far, based on its website. {mosads}

In her pledge, Lim said that she has always imagined herself as a mother. 

“I love children so much that I worked as a nanny over the summer between eleventh and twelfth grade,” she wrote. 

But she said the threat of climate change makes her feel like her children would not be safe, citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released last year that found the planet has warmed 1 degree Celsius, or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit, since the 19th century.  

“I am facing a future of economic instability, of food scarcity and extreme weather. What if I have to sacrifice my child’s education to pay for a new house? What if my house becomes uninsurable? What if I have to pay for clean water? What if my city becomes unsafe and I have to flee or if my baby is sick, but the hospitals are overflowing with people fleeing worse conditions?? For many people these fears are already reality,” she wrote in the pledge. 

Lim and the hundreds of teens joining her are asking their governments to act “while there is still time.”

Lim’s pledge is the latest measure youth have taken toward pushing lawmakers to take action on climate change. 

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish youth climate activist, testified before Congress on Wednesday on climate change. She submitted the IPCC report in place of her prepared remarks for lawmakers, asking them to listen to the scientists. 

The Nobel Peace Prize nominee spurred the youth climate movement last August when she launched student walkouts. 

Thunberg, who traveled to the U.S. by boat to limit her carbon footprint, is scheduled to participate in the United Nations Climate Action Summit next week.