From an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.
This is a book consisting of short bios of 26 young female climate "warriors" and how they came to prominence. No, Greta Thunberg isn't one of them, but she gets a lot of mentions! I think the author wanted to shine the spotlight in other directions for a change and there's nothing wrong with that.
The girls are as follows. They're in the same order as in the book, but I'm not actually sure if there is any order with regard to how these names appear. Each item in the list contains the nationality and very briefly, something they're known for. I don't list their ages because that's not as important as what they've done. One entry consists of two sisters, so there are only 25 listings.
- Daphne Frias, USA - voice against pollution
- Saoi O'Connor, Ireland - climate striker
- Maya Penn, USA - fabric recycling
- Selina N Leem, USA - rise in sea levels
- Elsa Mengistu, USA - national director Zero Hour
- Catarina Lorenzo, Brazil - coral reefs
- Ridhima Pandey, India - climate change awareness
- Isha Clarke, USA - green new deal
- Hannah Testa, USA - plastic pollution
- Haven Coleman, USA - human-caused changed
- Lilly Platt, Netherlands - plastic pollution
- Ayisha Siddiqa, USA - greenhouse gases
- Melati and Isabel Wijsen, Indonesia - plastic pollution
- Kallan Benson, USA - climate awareness
- Shreya Ramachandran, USA - water shortage
- Jamie Margolin, USA - founder of Zero Hour
- Imogen Sumbar, Australia - fire risk
- Bella Lack, UK - climate impact on wildlife
- Malaika Vaz, India - endangered animals
- Mabel Athanasiou, USA - waste reduction
- Elizabeth Wathuti, Kenya - tree planting
- Sarah Goody, USA - environmental activist
- Vanessa Nakate, Uganda - drought
- Haile Thomas, USA - healthy eating
- Isabella Fallahi, USA - youth voice
One thing that I immediately noticed is how prominent the USA is in that list. It's sad that there couldn't have been greater diversity - not in skin color or ethnicity, but in which nations these people represent. 60% of them are in the USA, and while some of those have ancestry or are immigrants from other countries, it's still sad that a nation with little more than 4% of the world's population gets the lion's share of this story especially when the US contributes a lion's share of pollution.
What - there are no activists in China? There's only one representative from the same Pacific islands that are going to be impacted hugely forms ea-level rise? There are only two in Africa, which as a continent has low emissions, but is suffering a great impact from climate change. The USA, which has actively sought to destroy environmental agreements and legislation over the past four years, swallows the Earth's resources and causes pollution wa-ay out of proportion to its population - or any other portion of the world. Maybe the author thinks the USA needs more activists to offset the selfish damage it's doing?
That important beef aside, the stories are heart-warming and inspiring. That's what's most important, and it's why this book is well worth reading. Strong women, storng views, dedicated work. It's all in here, and I commend it as a worthy read.
