Climate Change

„You say you love your children more than anything. and yet you steal their future right in front of their eyes.“ With this striking statement to the politicians gathered for the climate summit in Katowice, the fifteen-year-old Swedish citizen Greta Thunbergs inspired the „#FridaysForFuture“ campaign, which has been growing worldwide for weeks, with which schoolchildren demonstrated for better climate policy. While the students protest for radical change, the politicians continue to make deals in the beaten track of an economy with parameters of a utilitarian economic and growth model, which is itself one of the many causes of climate change. With their protests, the young people expose the entrenched dogma of economic theory. A few corrections are no longer enough. New ways of thinking are needed. There are many starting points for this, which take into account the holistic growth of the environment, man and nature, and not just economic growth, whatever the cost. The materialistic, utilitarian consumption model of the throw-away society needs to be replaced by models of life values and quality of life; in addition, the updating of the gross domestic product measurement should be supplemented by a holistic assessment of the quality of life, which takes the environment into account. New parameters of economic activity will only come into view when a real turnaround, a rethink has taken place. This also applies to personal behaviour, for example, when instead of a spot price and bargain hunting, appropriate payment and the protection of resources are considered. Greta Thunbergs seems to have some hope in this respect when she finishes her speech in Katowice: „You are running out of excuses. And we are running out of time. We have come here to let you know that there will be changes. Whether you like it or not. The real power lies with the people. Thank you.“