Dd said I don’t think we (her generation) will be able to have kids

[Hopefulholiday]

So yesterday talking to my dd 16 she said she’s not sure her generation will have or want to have kids because of climate change I think that’s really sad.

I do think we’ve got to a point where we need to take drastic action, I felt guilty for flying this year so next year we’re staying in the UK, but me staying at home isn’t going to stop it and tbh I can’t say I’ll never fly again.

I can understand that people feel desperate and that is fuelling the demonstrations, but ER aren’t getting people on side, probably the opposite.
Does anyone else feel that the tide is now turning or do you think that in general people don’t think it’s their concern?

[Guest]

My children have said the same. Very, very sad if our children feel this way.
This is likely to guilt me into more action than xr ever would.

[claireyfairy8]

It amazes me that a 16 year old is concerned with this to the point she is considering decisions like not having a family.

I don't believe that commercial flights are really the problem. The focus should be on those taking private jets on a whim etc.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by claireyfairy8

It amazes me that a 16 year old is concerned with this to the point she is considering decisions like not having a family.

I don't believe that commercial flights are really the problem. The focus should be on those taking private jets on a whim etc.

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My kids are really quite anxious about what the future holds. I am not surprised at all given what they learn in school and social media.

You are right, a few commercial flights isn't going to fix this, nor is private jets or us all turning vegan although all of those will help. It needs to be more fundamental than that.

[catherinesian]

I do what I can environmentally to help. Drastically reduced the plastic we use, less chemicals, eating less meat and dairy, walk to work instead of drive etc etc. Clearly not perfect as do take flights but do what i can to minimise my impact wherever possible.

But the checkout lady at Waitrose the other day snuffed at me for not putting my fruit and veg in a disposable plastic bag and rolled eyes at having to weigh it all at the till. It's those sort of people that call environmentally conscious people 'tree huggers' 'hippies' etc in a derogatory way. Even my own family do it to me - I'm ashamed to say. Not because I am doing it but because they feel the need to comment on it negatively whilst they do nothing to help the situation.

If only we could change the attitudes of those people, I strongly believe if we all do our bit to help the effects will be enormous. Clearly it has to change at a corporate level but the more people that irritate Waitrose checkout ladies - the faster that change will happen I loved Hugh Fearney Whittingstalls 'give the plastic back' campaign - you send all un-necessary single use plastics (ie food packaging) back to the shop you bought the item from. If we all did that imagine how quickly the supermarkets would get their act together to minimise the plastics used!

I do certainly think it's encouraging that the younger generation including OP's daughter is so concerned about the issue - however sad that she feels it will so hugely impact her future. We need to be listening to the young, environmentally conscious generation instead of complaining about the 'millenials' that are challenging the norm.

[hideinpockets]

I think future generations (and even the current generation) need to be aware of how much of an impact population has on the world. People are living longer than ever before and birth rates aren’t dropping so we are over populated. I think we will see birth rates drop and I think we’ll see more single child families, hopefully things like adoption etc. Will become more prevalent. I don’t think people will stop having children but I think that we will see the change in family dynamics etc. I’m not sure yet whether I’m going to have children and one of the factors on that is over population etc.

[lov2dibb]

The climate change zealots really have a lot to answer for terrifying our children into this kind of thinking.

While population control may well be an influencer on climate change people in the uk are not really having too many children.

The UK is 153rd on the chart for population growth and 165th for birth rate!
The majority of countries above it are in Africa and the Americas.
see here

In my opinion the best way to control the planet's population (and it's affect on climate change) is to ensure access to good education and contraception for girls and to enable them to be independent and have a purpose other than getting married and having babies.

There was a recent article about one woman in Uganda who had 44 children having been sold into marriage at the age of 12!
So when it comes down to it it's the developing world where most of that needs to be addressed and that's not PC as there are a lot of societies resistant to that kind of thinking due to cultural/religious reasons.

Your daughter should stop worrying about her own reproduction and maybe focus on doing something that helps others out of forced marriages etc.

All the focus on Co2 emissions from air travel is just headline grabbing and doesn't address the real issues.

[mickeyspal]

It wouldn't be climate change that would put me off having kids , I'd be more concerned with terrorism, knife crime and just horrible people in general

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Hopefulholiday

I can understand that people feel desperate and that is fuelling the demonstrations, but ER aren’t getting people on side, probably the opposite.

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The whole point of ER is to be disruptive so as to get governments and big businesses to do something. Their demonstrations are not really aimed at the general public. As individuals, there's very little we can do about it.

And even if people don't like ER's demonstrations, that doesn't really change the fact that climate change is real and that we need to do something. People might not like ER, but so what?

Originally Posted by lov2dibb

While population control may well be an influencer on climate change people in the uk are not really having too many children.

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I didn't think the OP's DD was talking about population control. I thought their DD meant that they wouldn't want to bring up a child in a world already affected by climate change.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by mickeyspal

It wouldn't be climate change that would put me off having kids , I'd be more concerned with terrorism, knife crime and just horrible people in general

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I remember the threat of terrorism - mainly from the likes of the IRA - being much higher when I was younger than it is now. I distinctly remember the threat of letter bombs and the like back in the 80s and 90s.

Although knife crime is currently on the rise, there were more admissions into hospital due to knife injuries in the mid-2000s than there are now. Most violent attacks do not involve a weapon - only 6% of violent attacks involve a knife.

As for your last point, there have always been horrible people. We probably just encounter more on the internet or hear more about them on news media nowadays, that's all. Things might seem worse now, but that's just because we are more aware of these problems now.