AGENT OF CHANGE
17 A Tasmanian forester’s son has become a leading, young environmentalist.
Huonville High School student Toby Thorpe is often asked what “activated him”. The 16-year-old environmental and youth activist made news last year when he travelled to the United Arab Emirates to accept a $US100,000 energy prize on behalf of his school for his team’s sustainability solutions.
Next month he travels to Poland with three other Tasmanian students (from Huonville and New Town high schools) to attend two international youth and climate change conferences.
He says the trigger for his interest in sustainability and climate issues was his father’s experience in the Tasmanian forest wars in the Huon Valley. “Dad worked in the forestry industry and was made redundant during the Forestry Agreement,” Thorpe says. “We were forced to move interstate when I was 10, to Western Australia, where my dad continued to work in the mining industry. So from a young age I was exposed to criticisms towards greenies, or environmentalists, and I was also exposed to the bad effects of environmentalism.”
When he returned with his family to the Huon Valley three years later, he got involved in a sustainability project with three other students at high school. “The goal then was to learn more about sustainability and what the options are,” Thorpe says.
“I’d been exposed to the bad options, but wanted to know what the other options are. There wasn’t a ‘just transition’ for my dad. There wasn’t another option for him. For instance, you want to shut a coal mine down, but what will the ‘just transition’ be so workers can have another job in something like the renewable energy industry.”
This notion of social justice has become integral to Thorpe’s views on sustainability since his school’s win in Abu Dhabi, where he returned in January this year with fellow students and teachers to report on the implementation of their project, which includes installing solar panels, retro-fitting a school building to make it more energy efficient, and building a biodigester and windmill.
The Year 11 student, who also studies at Hobart College, is part of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and is the Youth Facilitator at Education for Sustainability Tasmania. He initiated and led the 2018 Climate Leaders Conference for Tasmanian high school and college students.
“I would say my focus is climate justice because I see climate change as a justice issue rather than an environmental issue,” says Thorpe, who has political aspirations. “The reason I’m going to Poland is to represent my generation in Tasmania because we are often underestimated.
“We are the renewable energy state of Australia. We should be there [at the conferences] and we should be using our voices to say what we want for the future.”
He says his mind has been ignited by the opportunities and friendships that have come as a result of his school’s success in the energy competition. “The most memorable thing from all the events combined would be making new friends and connecting with like-minded people from all around the world,” he says. “I work with young people all the time and every time I meet someone new a bit more hope comes into me. I’m 100 per cent certain that we as the next generation are not going to wait for change, we are going to make it happen right now.”