This interview was conducted by Oxford Sustainability with Oxford Climate Society.
So, who are you? Anisha Faruk: Anisha Faruk, History, She/Her, Queen’s. Ellie Milne-Brown: I’m Ellie, I use she/her pronouns, and I’m a third year English student at Exeter College. I’ve been on Exeter’s JCR committee for two years, until the end of 2018, first as Secretary and then as President. Ivy Manning: My name’s Ivy (she/her), I study PPE at Wadham. Do you consider yourself an environmentalist? Why? Anisha: I’m an environmentalist because I am invested in the future of our planet. The welfare of our environment has a direct impact on socioeconomic inequality across the world. Fighting economic injustice is one of my key motivations and this cannot be done without also fighting for environmental causes. Ellie: Absolutely. I think safeguarding the environment is vital to our continued existence as a species, and even if it weren’t, protecting the natural world around us is essential. I’m really passionate about engaging with environmental issues and making a difference in the world around us, and I think Oxford SU is an incredible tool to do just that. I keep talking about ensuring students thrive at Oxford and improving access beyond admissions – I don’t think there’s any access or any thriving without putting the environment first. Ivy: Yes, 100%. The environment is so important. It’s one of the most politically neglected issues facing us as a society. I’m really lucky that my parents are committed environmentalists; it’s always been something on my agenda. My dad took me to see this documentary film the Age of Stupid when I was quite young: it’s about the last man alive in 2055, looking back and asking why we didn’t stop climate change when we had the chance. It terrified me but that’s useful, I think, to realise that the worst case scenario is really awful. We try not to let it scare us because in our minds it’s only affecting future generations, but that’s totally the wrong approach.
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