Transcriber: Rachel Batchelor Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs
Good evening.
Earlier this year, I did something I have never done before in my life,
something I never thought I would do.
I got arrested.
(Applause) (Cheers)
Yep, that's me up there,
being carried away by four policemen from Oxford Circus
during the Extinction Rebellion protests this April.
Now, I suspect that, some of you may be wondering why on earth
a respectable, middle-class, 71-year-old,
(Laughter)
granny like me would do such a thing,
especially at a time of life when many my age are settling into retirement,
enjoying the grandkids and maybe planning the odd cruise.
Well, the answer is really very simple.
I am afraid, and I am angry.
I am afraid because I've been listening to the climate scientists,
who tell us that time is running out
to stop this beautiful Goldilocks planet of ours
from tipping over into irreversible climate and ecological disaster.
I fear for the future of children now alive,
let alone those still to be born, and I am angry, very angry,
with those in positions of power, who could do something about it
but who seem to lack all political will
and absolutely any sense of urgency.
If eminent scientists, whose knowledge I respect,
tell me that all that I love is in danger,
well, I'm sorry, I'm going to do something about it,
even if it does mean getting into trouble with the law.
Now, I suppose at this point I ought to be giving you some facts and figures,
but quite honestly, I don't see the point.
Facts and figures just don't seem to cut it,
those same eminent scientists have been giving us facts and figures
for decades now, and nothing seems to change.
Carbon levels in the atmosphere continue to rise,
and the fossil fuel industries continue to flourish with business as usual.
Well, OK, I'll just give you one fact.
The last four years have been the hottest ever recorded
since records began in 1850,
and 2019 is looking set to top the lot.
Now, this does not mean, yipee,
we can all holiday on the coast of Cornwall.
No, it means, extreme weather events,
it means flooding and draughts and wildfires and dying coral reefs
and food shortages,
and thousands, if not millions
of climate refugees fleeing their uninhabitable homes.
Estimates vary over how long we've got
before we reach that 1.5 degree increase
in average global temperatures
beyond which we dare not go.
Some say we have as much as 10-11 years,
others a good deal less.
Whatever the case, surely there can be no denying
that we are facing an existential crisis,
the like of which, humanity has never faced before.
That is why I want to use my TEDx talk tonight
to call out to my generation, the baby boomers.
The school children are in the streets right now,
protesting against their stolen futures and demanding urgent action,
and we should be with them, out there with them, in solidarity.
After all, it has been on our watch that the worst of all this has happened.
So, baby boomers, consider this your call-up.
We need an army of rebel retirees.
The earth, your children and your grandchildren need you.
Or else one day you might hear one of them say to you
'And what did you do in the climate crisis, Grandma?'
Now, I'd just like to say a few words to that younger generation.
Well, only one word really.
'Sorry.'
You have every reason to be very angry with us.
All I can say is, that we did not realise what we were doing at the time.
But some did,
and they will have to answer to you and the court of future generations.
When I join your youth strikes, and I read your placards,
and I hear your impassioned words, it moves me to tears.
You and Greta Thunberg have my total support,
so please, talk to your parents and your grandparents.
Explain to them just what's at stake and get them to join you on the streets.
And now, a few words to my sons' generation, the ones in the middle.
You have demanding jobs, young families,
and yes, elderly parents to care for.
Your lives are busy and stressful, and time is at a premium.
But when you do have a moment,
you must be concerned about your children's and your own future.
Why not show your parents this TEDx talk
and see if you can enlist their support?
I know that some of you have taken the very difficult decision
not to bring children into a dying planet,
and I really respect that decision,
though it makes me very sad.
Others of you do all that you can to keep your carbon footprint to a minimum
but have little time for activism.
I do understand. I didn't either at your age.
Allow me to share with you just a little bit of my story.
I have to confess that I'm a latecomer to activism of any kind.
Although I was a teenager in the '60s, I never got involved with Ban the Bomb
or the Greenham Common Women,
and my very first march wasn't until 2003 against the Iraq War.
But during my 50s and 60s, I have grown increasingly concerned
about the environment.
I can't deny that it was my love of animals that first drew me in.
I grieved for that poor iconic polar bear in the melting ice of the Arctic
and the terrified orangutans in the burning forests of Indonesia.
And closer to home, I mourn our own disappearing wildlife.
And then, on top of all that,
there is the sheer outrageous injustice of it all.
That those who have done the least to cause this problem
are even now suffering its worst effects.
In 2009, I could bear the pain no longer.
We moved from France to Bristol,
just so that I could get engaged in environmental activism,
because for me, activism is the antidote to despair.
And so for the last 10 years, I have dedicated myself,
along with others, to campaigning for life on earth.
And that is why I so want to call out to more of my generation,
many more, to get on board.
I love this quotation by Maggie Kuhn.
She founded the Gray Panthers in America, and for me it says it all.
'The old, having the benefit of life experience,
time to get things done,
and the least to lose by sticking their necks out,
are in the perfect position to serve as advocates for the larger public good.
We must act as the elders of the tribe,
looking out for the best interests of the future
and preserving the precious compact between the generations.'
She's right, we do have the benefit of hard won life experience
and with it a certain amount of wisdom.
This is something only the elderly can offer,
so let's give up striving to be young.
This youth-obsessed society of ours,
now, more than ever, needs the wisdom of wise elders.
I will never forget the words of a young man who said to me
that when he saw old people lying on the bridges in London last November,
he felt as though it gave him permission to be there.
Age does confer a certain amount of wisdom so let's not be afraid to use it.
We also have something else that many others do not have:
time.
So much so, that some of us feel lonely
and isolated and lacking in purpose.
Age UK has estimated
that there are over 1.3 million lonely retirees
in this country at the moment.
Don't be lonely; get involved.
Extinction Rebellion has a group called the XR Elders,
and in Bristol some of them call themselves the Aged Agitators.
Here is a picture of them, marching through the streets of London this October
in their splendid silver cloaks.
They brought dignity and gravitas to the proceedings,
and they did not risk arrest.
(Cheers) (Applause)
I can promise you, you will never feel lonely on a demonstration.
And you never know, you just might find your tribe.
Maggie Kuhn also says that we have little to lose by sticking our necks out,
and I certainly found that to be true when I got arrested.
All that I risked was 12 hours in the local police station
and a 70 pound fine.
The police treated me with the greatest kindness and respect.
Now, I do realise that as an old, white woman,
I have a certain privilege here,
something that not all sectors of our society can enjoy,
so all the more reason to use it.
Seeing older people, get arrested has a particularly powerful effect:
it breaks the stereotype of the activist.
But of course, you don't have to get arrested.
There is so much else that needs doing behind the scenes.
There's office work and catering and legal observing
and welfare and media and driving.
So much else.
But if you do choose to get arrested and to lay your body on the line,
it certainly makes an impact.
In the Native American culture,
there is something called the 7th generation principle.
It holds that for every decision we make,
we must take into account its effect on our descendants
seven generations into the future.
The elders of the tribe were the custodians of that principle.
Sadly, in our mad, materialistic world, we've lost that role.
So, let us reclaim our rightful place as the elders of the tribe,
and with it find our tribe, our community,
our sense of identity and purpose.
We are living in a time
of unprecedented, dramatic change.
We, the elders, now more than ever
have a key role to play at this crucial time.
Future generations are counting on us.
So please join the rebellion, support the youth strikes
and do all that you can
in the remaining active years you have left to work for a safe earth.
We owe it to the children,
to leave them the best possible legacy.
Indeed, the only thing they will ever really need,
a diverse, sustainable and inhabitable planet.
(Applause)