Emma Lim

856 VIEWS

Early Life and Education

No Future, No Children

Public Response

Trivia

Emma Lim

Emma Lim is a Canadian climate activist and student at McGill University in Montreal. Lim is the founder of the No Future, No Children movement.^[1]

Early Life and Education

Lim grew up in the town of London, Ontario and began attending McGill University in Montreal, Canada in 2019 to study Biomedical sciences.^[2]

No Future, No Children

To address climate change's dire threat to the planet, Lim and young people all over the world have pledged to not have children until the government can assure their children will live in a safe environment. On the pledge, Lim^[13] stated,

“People joining the pledge are giving up parenthood, which is supposed to be one of the most important things to us.
This will show how serious we are about this and how grave this issue is.”

The youths aim to protest parenthood and raise awareness about climate change and to call on governments around the world to ensure a safer future for children. Though Emma has stated she has always wanted a family, she was also looking ahead,^[3]

Because even though I want to have children more than almost anything- what kind of a mother would I be if I brought a baby into a world where I couldn’t make sure they were safe?

Miss Lim stated her parents did not fully understand the severity of climate change until she unveiled her protest,

"For the first time, the impact of climate change became real to them.
You read about hurricane stories and heat waves, but the massive, most catastrophic events haven’t touched us yet in Canada.
There’s flooding but it hasn’t really affected my immediate family.
But this hurts; this is something tangible”

On the official website of No Children, No Future,^[3] Lim posted a letter and call to action. In it, she starts off with how she had spent time as a nanny and her love of children. She then continues to discuss the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report from 2018, and how over her lifetime, she has heard and seen endless examples of climate change which terrified her of the reality of the situation.

Emma then moves on to how she wants to live in a world where she can have a baby, and raise it an environment where they can swim in a clean ocean, go sledding, and grow a garden. Lim then considers the youth's current plight and her solution to address the ecological emergency,^[3]

"I am facing a future of economic instability, of food scarcity and extreme weather.
What if I have to sacrifice my child’s education to pay for a new house?
What if my house becomes uninsurable?
What if I have to pay for clean water?
What if my city becomes unsafe and I have to flee or if my baby is sick, but the hospitals are overflowing with people fleeing worse conditions??
For many people these fears are already reality.

I am giving up my chance of having a family because I will only have children if I know I can keep them safe.
It breaks my heart, but I created this pledge because I know I am not alone.
I am not the only young person giving up lifelong dreams because they are unsure of what the future will hold.
We’ve read the science, and now we’re pleading with our government."

Public Response

On September 16, Emma Lim took to Parliament Hill to introduce her #NoFutureNoChildren initiative. Students from the area took off school and lectures to hear Emma speak.^[5]

Many of the youth are responding positively to the movement and signing on.

Isabelle Axelsson, 18, from Sweden wrote on the topic,^[5]

I am taking this pledge because I don’t want to give birth to a child that will feel the same climate anxiety and fear as I do.
"I don’t want any more children to have to face the consequences of our inaction.

A young man from Germany, Jacob Diercks, also has also pledged. The 18 year old states at his reasoning as,^[9]

"I live in the north of Germany, next to the North Sea, the roughest sea in the world.
Ten years ago it was warm, but only to about twenty degrees- and often colder because of the Arctic winds.
Now somedays it is more than thirty degrees, and some days it's extremely cold.
The farmers here are in trouble- last summer everything flooded on the fields, and this summer everything burned.
The government paid millions to the farmers but it will only get worse, last year they harvested about 20% less than average.
I see it as irresponsible to bring children into such dangers.
Our government is doing too little to protect the climate and thus our region.
Where I live will be flooded soon and there is nothing I can do to save this place for my children."