One day ten or twenty years from now, when you look back from the future, you will be able to clearly see the entire path.

Sent on

December 18, 2015

Jill Kubit

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Dear Gabriel,

I just tucked you into bed. Since you are too young to grasp the significance of this historic moment, I will write to you about my thoughts of the global climate talks in Paris, COP21 and you can read it when you are older.

When you read this, you will probably not remember that I was away for almost an entire week, the longest I have ever been away from you. I went to Paris to help launch Our Kids’ Climate, a new international coalition of parents groups working on climate, and to bring the DearTomorrow message to the negotiations. We launched DearTomorrow during the COP21 to help generate interest and support for a strong agreement. I waited anxiously as the talks were extended an extra day, and then actually teared up with an overwhelming sense of joy and relief when I heard that 195 countries had signed the most ambitious international agreement to date.

As I try to write down my own perspective of the outcome of the negotiations, I am struck by the feeling of possibility and momentum that was generated in the lead up to and during the negotiations. This is the first time in a long time that I feel hopeful about our ability to collectively address climate change on a broad scale. Hopeful because a real international movement has been built and it is gaining momentum. Hopeful because for the first time governments came together to fully acknowledge the challenge of climate change and to set an even more ambitious goal than we thought was politically possible. This goal lays the foundation for a new path forward.

When I create an image of this path in my mind, it is not the three-foot wide, open paved trail that many of us would like it to be. It is a very narrow, steep path, deep in the woods. The muddy ground is uneven and filled with holes and rocks. It looks difficult to climb. And there are many branches in the way making it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead. Yet, I can tell that it is still a path, a way forward toward a clean energy future and a more stable climate.

As we continue to grow this movement and implement new policies and technologies in the months and years to come, more and more people will walk down this path. It will widen and become well trodden. One day ten or twenty years from now, when you look back from the future, you will be able to clearly see the entire path. And you will wonder how it was that the path was not always there.

Onwards,
Your mama

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More Messages to the Future

Dear Future Self,

More than getting through a global pandemic that has already taken hundreds of thousands of lives around the world, our true feat is even larger: to secure our long-term health and the health of the ecosystems upon which we depend for life. To do that, we have to cut our emissions in half in the next ten years, and continue to reduce it beyond that. And to succeed in that, we need to fundamentally shift the way we do EVERYTHING.

Dear Lalo,

I hope whatever happens, whatever I can’t imagine that you may face, that you will continue to seek light.

Dear Josh, LeeAnn, & Jessica,

I am very proud to know that You will treat Our Earth, Our Natural Gift, Our Playful Backyard with the same Awesome Respect that We give to each other, as a Family – Knowing that Our Earth, is Your Child Now.

Dear Tomorrow,

I promise to put in a rain catcher tank.

Dear Elliot and Alana,

But being truthful, I know we are not yet on the path that will lead to the change that is needed; but it is visible.

Dear Owen and Vivian,

Here’s the biggest secret: I KNOW it will have. We may not realize how, but we have changed the world.

I pledge to use less plastic.

Dear future child,

We’re presenting at conferences, writing articles, and organizing events with the goal of mobilizing our profession to act on climate, and to help them understand that it will deeply impact our mission to preserve history for future generations.

Dear Tomorrow,

My climate action is to educate youth to create solutions for energy efficiency and conservation opportunities.

Dear Tomorrow,

I promise to purchase carbon offsets when we fly.

Aos meus sobrinhos queridos, Ana Laura, Luis Carlos e Helloísa,

Talvez eu não esteja viva para ver alguma mudança, mas espero que vocês vejam e tenham um mundo melhor em 2050. Plantei um ipê rosa e outro amarelo, que eles estejam florindo até 2050.

Dear Kids,

My mistake was thinking I needed to give you more to be a good Mom. Recently your aunt asked me what my favorite toy was growing up. I gulped, I didn’t have one- it was the outdoors, sliding down a ravine of leaves with my Dad, skiing and camping. Today is October 12th, 2021 and I am still going to be giving you a lot, it’s going to look a little different – love, experiences, education and a healthy planet.

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