After the second global climate strike on 24 May, the young people of Fridays for Future Milan opened a dialogue with leading figures from the worlds of culture and business to understand how to stop the global climate crisis.
The boys and girls of Fridays for Future are growing ever more determined. Following the example of Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish activist, they have not stopped taking to the streets every Friday to demand government action on global warming. Some accuse them of talking without acting, yet scientists back them. And it is thanks to them that Milan declared a climate and environmental emergency. "We hope others will follow our lead. We want to be an example of an institution that takes on board such an important popular youth movement," declared Pierfrancesco Maran, the city's councillor for Urban Planning.
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"The Paris Agreement was ignored the very next day," recalled Simone Molteni, scientific director of LifeGate and moderator of the event organised as part of Milano Arch Week, speaking from the stage. "The good news is that solutions exist; the transition to renewables is feasible. It's just that the speed at which it is happening is far too slow."
Younger generations want the accelerator pressed. Because they are the ones feeling the effects of climate change first-hand; it is their future that the current development model is stealing. "We all feel the weight of this emergency," said Tiziana, a representative of Fridays for Future Milano. "We asked the city council to declare it: the fact that we were listened to is a source of pride for us. Now, though, promises must be kept."
Companies too will have to keep their word. Marco Pedroni, president of Coop Italia, explained how product labels cannot contain all the information and how often it is the producers themselves who fail to provide it. Coop-branded food products, however, are free from phosphates, palm oil and glyphosate; vegetables and fruit come from precision agriculture.
"Businesses, industries are far further ahead than we think. Amundi decided more than 30 years ago to focus on sustainability: we are trying to change the fossil carbon model across the world," said Paolo Proli, board member of Amundi, Europe's leading asset management company. "The real challenge is being able to communicate one's commitment in the best possible way, with a message that is accessible to the consumer," added Anna Maria Rugarli, sustainability manager of VF, which brings together brands such as Vans, The North Face, Timberland and Napapijri.
If we expect companies to share their progress, the media world in turn has a duty to inform the public about environmental issues. "There is a growing awareness among readers: it is right that the topics people care about should find space in newspapers, especially when they concern matters of great relevance to the future," said Luciano Fontana, editor of Corriere della Sera, whom Fridays for Future representatives nonetheless urged to do more, since in their view the climate does not feature enough in daily newspapers.
In the European elections, the Greens achieved great success, especially among the under-30s. "This generation has understood that it can be the protagonist of a great challenge won, or the first victim of a battle lost," said Stefano Boeri, president of the Triennale. Watching boys and girls chanting in the streets, speaking on stage without fear, finding the courage to ask uncomfortable questions of those who are putting their best years in jeopardy, one would think they will hardly accept defeat.