Pass the mic Sir David

Dear Sir David Attenborough and team,

Your work has inspired millions; many celebrate and advocate for Planet Earth and its inhabitants because of you, and the legacy you will leave behind is comparable to almost no one. You have raised awareness about a world which currently hangs so deftly in the balance between two paths, and whose unpredictable future is now in the hands of a younger generation.

But the legacy you leave is not yours alone. The platform you have created on Instagram has shown the power of your influence, yet Earth’s true fate has lain in the hands of frontline defenders for centuries. This is why we are asking you to pass the mic: to hand over your Instagram account, and therefore audience, to those who have been campaigning for the natural world like their lives depend on it, which in many cases it indeed does.

Many were disheartened by the news that you and your team have decided to retire your Instagram account, despite garnering a monumental audience in an incredibly short time, and reaching people that perhaps would never have considered the importance of rapid climate action otherwise.

Social media is a powerful tool for change and mobilisation; a platform for so many who do not have the luxury of privilege to amplify their own voices as and when they desire. For so many Indigenous People and People of Colour, social media is an outlet to share struggles, raise awareness about threats, and connect with others who share the same messages of hope and change. With six million people at your fingertips, the power to shift the narrative of the climate crisis is a reality – from one that focuses on the decades ahead, to one that shows the reality of climate change to the world’s most vulnerable today.

By agreeing to pass the mic, you will help create a culture of community; a collective, where those with the power to change things open their eyes to the struggles of those without power. It creates a narrative in which vulnerable people have their stories heard, and facilitates the imperative dialogue that’s needed between the Global North and South around the role of the responsible and the plight of the victims. Indigneous Peoples and People of Colour have had their voices silenced for too long.

Your own statement: “humankind has overrun the plant” implores us to ask, “Who is ‘humankind’?”. Passing the mic will enable climate change to be tackled from the inside out – to exhibit the role of neo-colonialism and capitalism in warming the planet. Shifting the conversation to lay bare the root causes of climate change will achieve climate and social justice for all. We hope you are willing to get behind this new discourse.

As 2020 comes to a close, there is a great sense of fear and uncertainty ahead. This year alone has shown us that uncertainty plagues our future, and we aren’t necessarily well-equipped to adapt as fast as we think we can.

We truly believe you feel a sense of duty to advocate for those frontline communities who have done so much to defend our planet, and we implore you to ask yourself: what use is power and influence if not to advocate for the world’s most vulnerable?

The survival of this planet depends on all of us as a collective. Today we see the strength of global unity in the fight against climate injustice. We have to unite if we are to make a real change.

Instead of allowing your Instagram account to lay dormant we, and the supporters/sign notarize  below, implore you to hand it over to youth activists, environmentalists, conservationists and frontline communities to mobilise the audience in the ways outlined in this letter.

#PassTheMic

By:

1. YACAP (Philippines)
2. FFF Costa Rica
3. FFF Colombia
4. UKSCN (England & Wales)
5. FFF Brazil
6. AYICCZim (Zimbabwe)
7. JOCA (Argentina)
8. FFF India
9. FFF Namibia