EDITORS DESK When I took an environmental reporting course last year, one of the most important takeaways that I learned was that a majority of the world’s population consider reading or learning about the environment “boring” and not “sexy” enough. There was even a criticism from regular readers and online followers that media organizations are too “preachy” when it comes to issues about the planet and that they focus too much on “doomsday” scenarios, turning off readers, rather than converting them to become advocates. At the end of the course, we were challenged to make environmental reporting “softer” and more “palatable” to the audience. Our mentors showed us various ways on how to deliver the message more effectively, showing us how to subtly use certain words in order to zero in the message. There were also sessions on how to use social media platforms, videos, and infographics to make our pieces “sexier.” After months of training, I wholeheartedly agree that there are various creative ways in order for the message of environment protection, sustainability, and conservation to attract the eyeballs needed for it to become an effective message. However, I do not agree on one thing — and that is to temper the scare regarding the fragile state of our planet. Call me an alarmist but I have seen enough data, read enough research, and listened to a lot of scientists and environmentalists revealing the true state of our one and only home. If there is nothing that will be done in the coming years, no drastic change in our lifestyles, or that massive reliance on coal and oil continues unabated, then I don’t have any words of comfort to say. Considering what I know (and I’m not even a science guy), I want to beat my chest and shout out loud that we are destroying any chance for future generations to survive on this planet. Emotions aside, I reached out to friends at the Climate Reality Philippines and asked them if I’m “sane” in my urgent call for attention to the planet’s plight. They responded with an article from Danielle Madriaga and Keith Sigfred Ancheta, both from the youth cluster of the organization. And when I read what they wrote, I could feel not only their passion for the planet, but also their earnest call — something like a fifth alarm during a fire — that an urgent action must be done by each and every one of us. Allow me to share portions of what Danielle and Keith have written, both in their 20s, about their sentiment on the planet’s present condition. “Reading the news nowadays can feel like an endless scroll of grief—of health emergencies, calamities, impunity-fueled violence, corruption, and all-around chaos. All the while, the earth hurtles toward its thresholds. This year, we marked the earliest ever ‘Earth Overshoot Day,’ the day when humanity’s demand for resources exceeds what the earth can regenerate in that year. The clock is counting down for us, but instead of racing toward a better reality, humanity is racing toward its early grave. “Has it not always been this way, though? Every decade feels like the worst, yet here we still stand. Humans are survivors and when the hour seems most dire, we somehow find a way to pull through. “We are now in that dire hour. We are set to surpass 1.5-degree Celsius of warming — the turning point for many of the natural systems that sustain us — in the next two decades. When there is overwhelming noise from the many crises at home, it is easy to ignore the sound of the gas leaking until we suddenly find ourselves choking on the fire’s smoke. “What if we listened? What if we cut through the noise, cared more, and came together to save our one home? We have not come this far only to get this far. There must be a redemption arc waiting for us but how do we achieve it? How do we secure a livable world for all? “To change everything, we need everyone. We need intergenerational solidarity.” Danielle and Keith concluded their piece by saying that even though today’s generation is the least responsible for this crisis, young people have “recognized their duty to ensure the future they will pass on to the next generations is better than the one they are currently living through.” I continue to believe in the youth. While older generations may have the wisdom, the youth “holds the wisdom of conviction.” They wrote: “We must be clear: our time is running out and we cannot afford to keep climate change at the end of our long list of crises. We need fast-tracked and scaled-up action to prevent the worst of the climate impacts billions are already suffering today. We’re in the endgame now, but we know, shoulder to shoulder, we can do this all day. We can keep fighting together until we finally achieve a better reality for all.” Yes, we all have to act as one to extinguish the fifth-alarm fire, because in the end, “there are no Boomers, Millennials, or Gen Z’s in a vanishing earth.” Johannes L. Chua is the editor of the Environment & Sustainability Section.