I’m sitting in the Hamish Hay Theatre listening to a 12 year old asking me to take action on the climate crisis. It reminds me of something.

In 1982 when I was 10 years old, I wrote a letter to the Mayor of Christchurch asking him to step in and help with the nuclear arms crisis. The possibility of global nuclear war kept me awake at night. But rather than just worrying about it, I chose the highest political authority could think of and asked for Hamish Hay’s help.

There is a lot of talk at the moment of the role of children as activists in the global climate crisis. People marvel at their precociousness, and they truly are inspiring. But there is an element of surprise in why children are getting involved in these issues. I’m not surprised. If we take time to educate our kids about what’s going in the world around them, many of them are ready and willing to wade into the debate, and to do something about the issues we are facing.

As a child, I remember feeling frustrated that I couldn’t do more. Writing letters, painting protest banners and marching in the street was the most I could do. I was a kid, it was the 80s and no one was listening to me. Now I am an adult and I have the power to do more. You can read my last blog post about one of the things I’m doing to reduce my ecological footprint.

Tonight, I realise there is one more thing that I can do to help – empower the children around me to be informed and actively involved in the issues and their solutions. Watch out grandkids, I feel a lecture coming on!