Zainab Aderounmu 
What if your decisions today, shaped life for people, seven generations from you?
As the world leaders prepare for the 30th Conference of Parties commencing next week, it’s time you rethink what sustainability truly means.
First, what is the Conference of Parties? It’s an annual decision-making event where representatives of nations discuss, negotiate and coordinate global efforts to tackle climate change. This year, the 30th session will be held in Brazil with an overarching slogan focused on global efforts.
But, how did we even get here? Climate change came about as a result of us acting as though our resources are unlimited. We keep taking, producing, consuming and discarding without any thoughts of the welfare of generations after us. To visualise the crisis, think of the typical movie scene where an aunt or uncle squanders family wealth and resources because of the illusion of infiniteness. Meanwhile, there are younger siblings, cousins and children who could benefit from judicious management and investment of those resources.
That’s what sustainability really means; satisfying today’s needs without jeopardising the chances of tomorrow’s. One skill I’ve found crucial to achieving sustainability is the 7th Generation Thinking. The principle that the decisions you make and the actions you take today should mean something positive for the generations after you, up till the seventh generation.
Think of it as leaving a legacy exemplified in your every action, but in the environmental contexts. This week, before nations and global stakeholders gather in Belem Brazil, reflect on how you interact with your environment. How do you dispose of your plastic; how much of it do you consume; what are your contributions to the carbon emissions level in your country? Are you passive, ignorant, or climate-conscious?
You’re probably wondering how properly reducing (and recycling) your plastic use can possibly affect seven generations after you. According to the United Nations, plastic leaves forever. It takes about 20 to 500 years for plastic to decompose, and even after that, it doesn’t completely disappear. Imagine your seventh grandkids’ kids stumbling on a plastic bottle of juice you drank during your lifetime just because it won’t decompose.
What’s wrong with that? Everything. Take the billions of people using plastic and the amount of plastic (and other climate-unfriendly things) we generate and multiply that by 500. That’s where the problem lies. Every bottle, every choice, and every action you take reaches father beyond your lifetime. So, sustainability isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a necessity. As you go about transforming the world this week, think of how you can influence decisions, policies for a better future outcome, not only for you and the people around you, but also for those yet to be born. Then do it.
Finally, I’ll leave you with some of Mahatma Gandhi’s iconic words; “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not any man’s greed”.
Zainab ADEROUNMU A. W. is a First Class graduate of English Language and the Overall Best Graduating Student from the Lagos State University, Lagos Nigeria. She’s a professional Master of Ceremonies, known as The Hijabi Compere , a public speaking coach and Communications Professional. She is currently a Youth advisor to the European Union where she doubles as the Spokesperson and Head of Communications & PR for the Youth Sounding Board.