Teenagers speak with a directness and a moral clarity that is desperately rare in our elected leaders, and perhaps in the adult species as a whole. That’s why we created the International Congress of Youth Voices. It’s an annual gathering of young writers and activists, ages 16 to 22, who speak and live with urgency.

The first conference was last summer in San Francisco, where almost a hundred delegates from 26 countries gathered, and were mentored by the likes of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Khaled Hosseini, and congressman John Lewis. One of our most inspiring young delegates in that first conference was 15-year-old Salvador Góomez-Colón from Puerto Rico, who created his own non-profit to help the island’s recovery after Hurricane Maria.

Eight months ago, we decided that we’d hold the second Congress in San Juan. We knew Puerto Rico would be a rich and inspiring location for the delegates to explore issues of colonialism and climate change, for starters, but we had no idea it would be, in August of 2019, the most exciting place on the planet to watch grassroots democratic change in action.

'I am growing up in a world whose life systems are unraveling' Jamie Margolin

And this recent gubernatorial unseating began with our increasingly volatile climate, and how we react to it. Governor Ricardo Rosselló did not meet the reasonable expectations of his people, he denigrated them in their time of need, and now he’s gone. And the people who marched, who took to the streets and wouldn’t leave until he left, were overwhelmingly young. This was a youth movement, and demonstrates what can happen when young people convert their outrage into action.

The delegates of the International Congress of Youth Voices are doing this every day. And one of the issues they’re most passionate about is – no surprise, given that they are inheriting our towering mess – climate change. The following essays provide a sampling of their thoughts, plans and, to be sure, their justifiable exasperation. “I am growing up in a world whose life systems are unraveling,” writes Jamie Margolin, in one of the most sobering examples of the psyches of young people growing up with the prospect of a climate apocalypse. “In 10 years I’ll be 28. My life will just be beginning when the world is ending.”

Dave Eggers talks with youth delegates, including Salvador Gómez-Colón, left, at the International Congress of Youth Voices in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Photograph: Isabel Talanehzar

What follows are short pieces by student delegates to the congress.

Why I fight for climate change by Joshua Borokinni

Joshua, a 19-year-old delegate from Lagos, Nigeria, is a climate activist, social innovator, and journalist with a keen interest in sustainable and developmental reporting.

Losing a friend to a climate-induced flood in 2016 is the reason I committed myself to a cause bigger than myself – climate action. This quest for a better planet was a reaction to my friend’s death which saw me spend six hours daily for a month in the library – studying climate change – its etymology, science, politics, legal frameworks and projections.

Climate change is inarguably the biggest single threat to existence of lifewhich affects every constituent of the planet – humans, animals, oceans, deserts, atmosphere inter alia. We have seen an unprecedented increase in heatwaves, cyclones, food insecurity and drought in recent times.

In Nigeria, climate change is the underlying drive for the current Fulani Herdsmen - Farmers clashes which has seen the death of over 5,000 people in the past four years. The Chad basin is drying up and the Sahel savannah is experiencing immense drought and desert encroachment, forcing herdsmen to move down south in search for pastures. As the migration has increased, so too have violent clashes over grazing lands between local farmers in the south and pastoral herdsmen, whom the former accuse of wanton destruction of their crops and forceful appropriation of their lands.

Sadly, in the wake of these happenings, Nigerians have yet to see climate change as an important issue. Many international treaties are yet to be joined, climate action gets less than 1% of the budget, and the president has not focused on climate policy. This is attributed to the widespread poverty, unemployment, insecurity and bad governance leaving climate action as an URGENT but NOT IMPORTANT agenda on the scale of preference. Nonetheless, these problems are all interconnected and Nigeria has a low adaptive capacity towards the impact of climate change.

Governments need to do more! As the United States’ elections draw near, it is high time to put aside political differences and prioritize the safety and sustainability of all Americans by putting climate action at the top of the to-do list. The world needs to see aggressive and action-driven interventions across all levels of government and a responsible green-oriented populace to mitigate the scary projections of climate change, else, there will be nowhere to run.

A bad dystopian movie by Jamie Margolin

Jamie, 17, is a Colombian-American writer, community organizer, activist, and public speaker living in Seattle, Washington, who founded Zero Hour, an international youth climate justice movement.

If you were watching a movie, and all of the characters in it knew there were only 10 years left to save the world, but they continued going on with their lives as if nothing was happening you would yell at the screen right? I would.

We on planet Earth are living out that movie. Climate change and environmental destruction are quite literally ending the world – and the United Nations has made it crystal clear through years of extensive scientific research that we have a maximum of 10 years left in order to turn the tides on the climate crisis and save humanity and every creature we share this once-blue earth with.

Ten years left to save the world.

That means starting yesterday, we have to radically change our society – the way we live, the way we power our lives and fully make that just climate action transition in the span of 10 years in order for it to not be too late.

I’m 17 years old, going into my senior year in high school, and I am growing up in a world whose life systems are unraveling. In 10 years, I’ll be 28. My life will just be beginning when the world is ending. It is not fair to my entire generation that we are inheriting this monstrosity of a problem. It’s hard enough trying to grow up and live your life, let alone inherit this crisis that makes it so your future will be full of chaos and disaster.

That’s why I, along with 12 other young people and the help of the non-profit, Our Children’s Trust, recently sued the state of Washington. Why? Because the whole state government is screwing over my generation. Washington state’s elected officials love to talk about solving the climate crisis, but then turn around and issue permits for fossil fuel plants that poison communities, and destroy ecosystems, water, air and land that my generation and future generations need to survive.

What’s even crazier? The lack of necessity. They are destroying our life support systems with a fossil fuel energy system that is wholly unnecessary to provide for our basic energy needs. Experts across the planet say that we don’t need to power our planet with dirty life-threatening fuels.

I can’t risk not fighting. My future is on the line

Why do I fight for climate change? Matilde Bondo Dydenesborg

Matilde is a 15-year-old climate activist and writer from Denmark.

For years, I didn’t know the climate problems we were facing, but when I found out I kept asking myself: will I have a future? Why didn’t we do anything when we had the chance? Adults were condescending. I felt like the only thing I could do was trust the people who had the power to change. I was concerned that global warming wasn’t their first priority, and all I did was go to school every day, asking myself: what am I doing here when a world is disappearing outside my window?

Then I started researching. My teacher told us about the international movement School Strike 4 Climate. Students from around the world were deciding not to attend class, but rather take part in demonstrations demanding action and the changes they wanted to see. I thought this could be my opportunity, quickly asking my friends if they wanted to go. Though they agreed, I found out they were more interested in skipping class than demanding change from the powers that be. I was disappointed because I thought they cared as much as I did. I wanted them to care as much as I did.

While skipping class to insist upon action is valuable, education is foundational. That’s why I founded an environmental council at my school. I fight for my future, and I fight to inspire people to do the same. I fight for surviving.