Channels, Fall 2020

Page 42 Beale • Equivalence in Translation Thunberg set off the worldwide movement “Fridays for Future” with her school strike and campouts in fron t of the Swedish Parliament. She was recently chosen as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year and received the 2019 alternative Nobel Prize. Other Young Climate Activists In addition to Thunberg, other “icons” of the climate change movement were also invited to Davos, including Canadian Autumn Peltier, who has strived to conserve water from childhood, and Irish teenager Fionn Ferreira, who has come up with a solution to keep microplastic from getting into the oceans. Several youth climate activists demanded, like Thunberg, a stronger say for their generation in the fight against climate change. According to Natasha Mwansa from Zambia, the politicians have the experience, the youth have the ideas, and the two must be better integrated with one another. On the first day of the meeting, WEF founder Klaus Schwab called the participants to cooperative efforts, stating that everyone can contribute to building a better world. “We can’t just create a new world, we must,” said Schwab, emphatically repeating the respons ibility of the 50th Annual Meeting to deliver results. “This is a work meeting, not a talking shop.” Schwab also demanded that young activists like Greta Thunberg must be taken seriously, affirming that “we must search for solutions together.” Business Text C: Op-Ed: Leaving coal behind, the energy revolution needs new momentum It’s now official: Germany is leaving coal mining and its use as fuel behind. Now the foundering energy movement must reacquire its drive, because the need for electricity isn’t going anywhere, according to Jens Thurau. Good news first: the federal government has reached an agreement with all involved parties to stop using coal by 2038. It’s about time. In the past, it may have very well seemed as though the effort to end coal usage in Germany would be dashed on the rocks of various challenges in its path. Now, the four federal states affected by the new law have also agreed that it should come this month. However, this success has come at the cost of the concessions made by politicians to the coal mining regions. Around 20,000 workers will be affected if the surface mines and power stations are gradually closed starting now (and many climate experts say it’s already far too late). 40 billion euros flow into the region, so the politicians are aware of the symbolic value coal has, both in the East and the West. The Ruhr effectively served as the engine of the “Economic Miracle” after WWII, so naturally it was difficult for those involved in coal to confront the end of coal industry there (the last mine closed a year ago). Coal miners make the headlines