Environmentalism is more popular than ever—and with good reason: never has our dependency on the natural world or our culpability in its ongoing destruction been clearer. I’ll spare you the customary roll call of ecological crises that tends to open articles about the environment (for every person spurred into action, another is sunk into despondency), but suffice it to say that our planet is in trouble. If humanity is to survive this century with any semblance of the quality of life enjoyed today, all of us need to act quickly to limit and reverse anthropogenic climate change and environmental destruction.
It’s therefore heartening enthusiasm for environmentalism on the rise. Across much of Europe, support for Green parties is increasing. In the United States, three-quarters of people think more should be done to end the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. The 2019 strike was one of the largest protests ever staged with an estimated six million people around the world—from Antarctica to Zambia—protesting leaders’ continued inaction over the destruction of the planet.