At seven years old, young Sophia Mathur had a big obsession with cats, as most kids do with cuddly and furry animals.
So when her mother, Cathy Orlando, took her to one of her first environmental lobbying events, she drew a picture of a cat with the caption, “A carbon tax is the purr-fect solution.”
The recipient of the hand-drawn picture was none other than Sen. Grant Mitchell, who responded with a hug and a conversation about how the ongoing climate crisis is affecting the future of tomorrow for children today.
Mathur has since been actively fighting for a better environment for the next generation. From lobbying with her mother on Parliament Hill, Ottawa, to marching with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in New York, Mathur is Sudbury’s youngest Eco Hero.
Mathur’s work in climate activism earned her the title of being the first student outside of Europe to participate in the Friday’s for Future movement, and her work in demanding accountability from politicians at such a young age has been internationally recognized.
She will be one of six youths to be featured in a documentary with Prince Charles and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The documentary will also play at the upcoming COP 26 event, a UN Climate Change Conference with the UK as president for 2021.
The conference series will run from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 in Glasgow, Scotland, where the Sudbury teen activist will also be attending.
“This year, they're going to have a lot more things for youth to show up to for youth empowerment. So, I'm really excited to see what I can learn and I can speak out about with this issue,” Mathur told Sudbury.com in a phone interview.
Youth aren’t always welcome in activist roles, or at least, they haven’t always been that way. At the age of seven, Mathur was the youngest in the group to lobby with Citizens Climate Lobby (a grassroots advocacy climate change organization) in Canada’s capital.
“So with the organization my mom worked with, at the time, they didn't allow people under the age of 16,” Mathur said.
“But they made an exception for me for that one. And then after the coordinators of the organizations saw how empowering it was to have a really young kid in the room, from then on they allowed younger kids to go lobbying with them.
“I think it's really intimidating for politicians to have a seven-year-old come up to you and, and give you a paper of a drawing to take action on climate change now.”
Seven years later, Mathur is one of the leading youth activists to take matters into their own hands and fight for their future. And with what seems like the weight of the world (figuratively and environmentally) on the shoulders of the youth, Mathur asks adults to take action on the pressing matter.
“I feel like a lot of adults just don't want to listen to me, because I'm just a 14-year-old kid, like, what do I know, at 14?” Mathur said. “I feel like they just need to be willing to listen, and listen to the youth and the people that are going to be affected by this.”
Orlando, a climate activist herself, has been proudly cheering on her daughter.
“She's got the courage of a lion,” said Orlando. “And she sees through things really quickly. And she can speak about it. Like, what more could you ask for as a mother? So, ‘grateful,’ I guess is the word I would use.”
For the past 11 years, Orlando has been consistently pushing for carbon pricing with politicians. Mathur took inspiration from her mother and took the initiative to strike for change in the system through law and policy.
Currently, Mathur is a part of a lawsuit against the Ontario government in hopes of setting a precedent in taking action on the ongoing climate crisis.
“We're suing the Ontario government for not taking enough action on the climate crisis. This has been going on for almost two years now,” Mathur said.
“But it's also something that is going to be continuing for the next couple of years. If we do win, that's something that other people can refer to for other lawsuits in cases where we can actually get common action through law.”
Mathur said she is focusing her energy on this lawsuit as she works closely with lawyers to see the case through.
While she loves to give youth empowerment and to fight for the world ahead of them, she is also looking for balance in her life with being a normal 14-year-old doing normal teenager things.
“It's always great to continue to spread the message and also empower a lot more youth, especially more women and women of color, but I also love to just empower people to do their part, and maybe that's not doing something to fight the climate crisis, maybe they have their something that they're passionate about, or something that they want to change in this world,” Mathur said.
“I also, you know, I'm still 14 and I still want to enjoy my childhood.”
Despite the immense amount of responsibilities Mathur has taken on, she is continuing to create change and make a better living environment for future generations. Orlando is also fighting for a world where the climate won’t rob children of their dreams and aspirations.
“I hope Sophia doesn't have to worry about the climate collapsing. I hope Sofia gets to be who she's supposed to be,” Orlando said. “But I wish that for all the kids on the planet, not just my own daughter. Every child should just grow up without this extreme worry.”
