As a parent, and as an inhabitant of Earth, I can’t let today’s news go without comment. I {generally} keep my opinions of President Trump to myself. Or at least to a narrower forum because, well …

Today though, President Trump took a devastating step down a potentially irreversible path of destruction of our planet – not only his country – but the future of the planet for all people. So that’s where my relative silence ends.

By signing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change last year, 195 countries agreed to:

• reduce greenhouse gas emissions and publish their reduction targets
• aim for a carbon neutral world as early as 2050
• developed countries to help poorer nations by donating to assist their combat of climate change and promote greener economies
• limit global temperature increases to below 2*C {at which point scientists believe there will be no reversal of catastrophic climate change}

If I’ve missed anything vital, please feel free to comment below. I’m no scientist, but these seem to be the key points to me.

Today President Trump withdrew the US from the Agreement. My understanding is that it will take about four years for that withdrawal to come to fruition, so let’s hope sanity prevails in the interim and he isn’t the president in four years time, rather someone with a vague sense of being part of a global movement, rather than a narcissist.

Let’s also hope that the remaining 194 countries bring their A-game to the fight.

My love of animals aside, climate change and the future state of the planet we are leaving our children was my main motivation for becoming vegan. It is real. It is happening.

Even the most skeptical of person can’t ignore the signs. It is the second day of winter in Sydney, Australia and it’s not cold. Sure it’s cooler than it has been for the past month, but it’s not cold. A couple of weeks ago people were still on the beaches. Winters come later, they don’t last as long. Summer seems to stretch out indefinitely – sneaking in earlier and leaving later each year.

A quick Google image search of the comparison of ice levels in the Arctic offers many, many photos like this one.

Those of us who don’t have our heads in the sand about climate change read as much as we can about it. We devour information which, at times I’ll admit can be a little terrifying. How on earth do we put the brakes on?

What can we – as one person, or one small family – do? The answer: everything that is humanly possible. It is entirely up to us.

Educate yourself. Don’t really understand climate change? Read about it. Here’s a link to NASAs page which explains the causes really clearly.

Not sure about how you as an individual can have any effect on greenhouse gas emissions? Or what they really are? Here’s some information from the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Energy.

We can’t afford to sit idly by and hope that someone else does something about it. Look what happened in the last US election when people took that attitude!

Talk to your elected politicians. Talk to your children. Change your ways. Join forces with people around your community: your school, your suburb, your world. Boycott businesses who aren’t doing their best to change the future for the better.

Be brave and watch Earthlings {keeping in mind it was produced 12 years ago!} and it’s sequel Unity. These films will open your eyes to human economic interests {hello President Trump!} and the impact we are having on the earth and the animals we share it with. By watching them, hopefully, you will feel compelled to make a difference.

If the people voted into the highest offices in the nation {whichever nation you live in} can’t do the right thing by the planet, you must.

Our future depends on it. Our children’s’ future depends on it. The Earth depends on it. On us.

There is no back-up plan. There is no Plan B.