Climate Voter Ruby
Originally from the urban hinterland west of London, Ruby thinks that their appreciation of the natural world stems from their parents’ encouragement as a child. On weekends the family would work up an appetite for Sunday roast by going out for a walk to a public garden or the local river. ‘We’d play little games: counting willow trees or ducklings as we walked’, Ruby remembers.
Ruby graduated from the Environmental Science degree at the University of East Anglia three years ago. Their final dissertation researched political interest in young people, and how that relates to the environment. ‘The idea that young people don't vote any more because they don't care - it doesn’t seem like anyone is talking about why,’ explains Ruby. ‘So I found that it's not that young people don't care, it's that they feel disenfranchised by the (conventional) political system.’
‘Young people don't want to to tie their identity to one label or one group. They want to look at causes and specific issues that are affecting them personally, and to be able to have agency with those.’
When they started their degree, Ruby was surprised at the scope of what they had assumed as a ‘hard science’ course. It had links from environmental science into economy, transport, and even culture. For Ruby this interconnectedness is key. ’We need to stop thinking about the environment in isolation because it's not a singular issue,’ they say. ‘If we're thinking about transport, we can talk about electric vehicles, we can talk about public transport, we can talk about potholes in the roads and how climate change affects tarmac and concrete.’
‘This whole crumbling concrete conversation that is currently happening is presented as a housing issue and an education issue where schools have been shut down. But one of the factors in the concrete failure is the increase in levels of rainfall and humidity due to climate change.’
Ruby sees an urgent need for any prospective government to understand the knock-on effects of climate better, and think actively about what is going to come next.
How do they feel about the current situation? ‘It makes me very, very nervous. It can be very easy to get stuck in a negative mindset and think “I'm the only one trying.”’ Ruby is co-ordinator for their local Greenpeace group, having identified the organisation as aligning best with their stance on the environment. Being involved gives them a way of doing something positive in this increasingly uncertain world, and that in itself is helpful to them personally. ‘It gives me hope.’
'When I start talking to someone who is genuinely interested and is engaged, and has thoughts and opinions that may even be something I’ve not considered myself, that makes me realise there are like-minded people around and they might think and vote this way. I'm not the only one.’
‘As a young person, a queer person, someone in the rental market, there's a lot else that I am worried about right now, but for me (climate action) is definitely one of my top priorities.’ They want to see actual, actionable policies. ‘I can't say that I back any party completely. I would rather say: I really care about the environment and that's all. So if someone were to produce a policy that was genuinely green and really do-able then I'd be very excited, but I'm not going to put my whole belief onto one person, because at the end of the day they’re (just) another person. I'd rather look at what's being proposed and work from there.’
Ruby’s message to their election candidate is simple: ‘Are you someone who cares and actively wants to make changes or are you someone for whom the environment isn't a priority?’
What does Ruby think that we as individuals could do differently? They suggest that we check our information sources more critically, and also reach out beyond the ‘climate echo chamber’, and engage with different points of view. ‘I think when we're uncomfortable or a little bit out of our depth is actually when the most thought and development comes. Sitting with that feeling for a second instead of scrolling past really lets you marinade on your thoughts for a while. Perhaps consider your next step should you want to take one.
‘I wouldn’t call it activism necessarily. I would say I'm someone who cares enough to be involved.’
And you don't have to be a certain type of person or have a particular level of knowledge or political leaning. ‘If you care enough to engage with climate issues, there are other people who also are feeling the same, and the barriers that you might think are there will be a lot lower than you expect. Actually the barriers might just be in you.’