This piece was written by Aaniqa, Amna, Gagan, Sameer, and Su from AKFC’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC). As part of AKFC’s World Environment Day campaign, they interviewed Rasul, a fellow YAC member and climate change activist.
Every time the global temperature rises, the future of young people becomes more and more uncertain.
Climate change is one of the foremost issues of today. With an influx of natural disasters, food and water shortages, and threats to human health, it is no surprise that youth are concerned about what the world will look like when they grow up.
Climate ambassador Rasul Huseynzade grew up in Istanbul, Türkiye. Over the course of his childhood, he experienced wildfires, floods, and storms.
But it wasn’t until the age of 12 that Rasul witnessed firsthand the adverse effects of climate change on his community. One day, as he was walking to school, Rasul was caught in the middle of a severe storm. Buildings and trees collapsed around him, and he ended up stuck between two buildings, trapped by a fallen roof for hours until he was rescued.
“It was a really, really scary experience,” Rasul recalls. Unfortunately, this was not his only brush with the climate crisis.
In 2021, Türkiye experienced massive wildfires. Travel destinations, ancient cities, hotels, and villages burnt down. Türkiye’s government was unable to put out all the fires, so locals were forced to wait for the fires to stop naturally.
“Watching the news, [I saw] lots of people, animals, and plants dying,” Rasul says. “I was really anxious.”
Rasul’s personal experiences with extreme weather events inspired him to start Türkiye’s own chapter of Fridays for Future in 2018. Inspired by the work of Greta Thunberg, he gathered his friends and organized climate strikes in Istanbul.
In 2021, Rasul lobbied for Türkiye to ratify the Paris Climate Agreement. He gathered over 100,000 signatures from citizens concerned about the climate crisis and spoke about the global climate emergency at the Turkish Parliament. Later that year, Türkiye ratified the Paris Agreement and accepted the campaign’s suggestions on sustainable development.
“I wanted to take action because I didn’t want to stay silent,” Rasul reflects. “I wanted to be heard.”
With many nations and multinational corporations failing to meet their obligations to future generations, Rasul believes it’s more important than ever for youth to act and make their voices heard.
“Lots of people are planning the future, but we are the future. We are going to be living that future, so we have the right to decide what the future will look like.”
To understand the true impact of climate change on our world, we need to take a step back and understand what’s really going on behind the scenes.
Climate change is characterized by a long-term shift in temperature and weather patterns as a result of human activity. Burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and rapid industrialization have all contributed to climate change.
Climate change doesn’t just affect one part of life; it strikes us at multiple verticals. Each community is impacted uniquely, with climate change creating new issues and exacerbating existing problems.
While climate change is a global issue, the negative impacts of climate change vary greatly between countries and communities, disproportionately affecting marginalized and vulnerable people, such as women, migrants, and persons with disabilities. Climate change is also deeply intertwined with global patterns of inequality, like food security, access to health care, and socioeconomic status.
Changes to our planet are happening on a global scale, and they’re only getting worse.
We’re seeing more extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, and heatwaves. Rising sea levels have become a major issue for coastal communities. For example, Mozambique’s shorelines have become rapidly reshaped by more frequent and severe cyclones, leading to consequences like livelihood loss and exposure to waterborne diseases. Learn more about AKF’s work to protect mangrove forests along Mozambique’s coast.
Water systems are also changing, causing excess droughts in some parts of the world and extreme flooding in others. This creates issues with hydroelectricity generation, and thus, the economy. Increased heat has worsened food insecurity, decreased crop yields and jeopardized the livelihoods of farmers in affected regions.
In Canada, fluctuating temperature variations, wildfires, and biodiversity loss are some of the starkest effects of climate change. Due to much of Canada’s land mass being located at northern latitudes, Canada has been warming at twice the global rate.
Canada saw record-breaking wildfires in 2023, with 6,517 fires burning approximately 18.5 million hectares, equivalent to about five percent of the country’s forest area. These numbers were equal to 10 times the amount of the year before. The smoke from Canada’s wildfires also clouded skies in Europe, a stark illustration that the effects of climate change do not stop at national borders and that what we do locally can make a difference globally.
Today, youth are more involved than ever in the fight against climate change. Their involvements range from changing everyday habits, like using sustainable transit, to forming youth groups.
In Canada, young people are also getting involved in environmental policy initiatives. In 2022, Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, appointed the Environment and Climate Change Youth Council. These passionate young Canadians have demonstrated leadership in their communities and routinely advise on key environmental and climate issues to inform the Government of Canada.
Rasul says he understands why some people believe climate change is a hopeless issue. Often, it appears as if we are at odds with the devastating consequences. Despite this, he encourages everyone to take action.
“Maybe we can’t change the whole world at once, but we can start by changing our own worlds,” he says.
Making a difference in your community is important – local action is key to global action.
Rasul’s message to other youth concerned about climate change is simple: there are steps you can take to contribute to greater solutions. Simply educating yourself and others about current world issues can make a difference. Connect with your peers and community, as this can spark important conversations.
“Activism is a lifestyle,” Rasul says. “Just sharing a post on Instagram is activism. Signing a campaign is activism. Joining a protest is activism. Even voting is activism… Just start somewhere.”
AKFC’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) is a group of diverse, dedicated young people passionate about global development, youth engagement, and creating positive change in their communities and around the world. Learn more about the YAC.
