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Need to know ~ People

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Howey Ou, young climate activist

Howey Ou’s hometown of Guilin, China

Photo: ElsworthSK, CC BY-SA 4.0

Apologies for not having a photo of Howey Ou!  Please find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Why current?

2020-12-08

You might have heard of Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old climate activist from Sweden.  She has made news headlines around the world as a prominent leader of the climate movement and an inspiration to millions of young people who are now becoming activists, too.  Greta has spoken to the United Nations, won awards, and was named Time Magazine‘s “Person of the Year” in 2019.

It’s unlikely, however, that you’ve heard of another equally passionate fighter for the planet.  Her name is Ou Hongyi, and she is a 17-year-old activist from China.  For two years, Ou, who goes by the name Howey Ou on social media, has been waging a far less recognized, often solitary battle.  She has stood out on streets, alone for hours, holding handmade signs that display her words of protest.  She has faced questioning from authorities, who have tried to silence her.  She’s been expelled from her high school, for expressing her outrage regarding the lack of adequate response to the climate crisis.

But slowly, her name, her work, and her courage are beginning to gain recognition around the world.  Howey’s following on social media is growing.  And on December 4, 2020, The New York Times published a profile of her.    In the meantime, she has not let the loneliness of her crusade, nor the risks she faces by defying a government that is known for silencing voices of protest, to weaken her message.  And now, people are starting to listen.

“Everyone should realize that the climate crisis is already the biggest existential crisis facing mankind.”

-Howey Ou

More about Howey Ou

  • Born on December 11, 2002, in Guilin, China.
  • Howey’s hometown in southern China is famous for its breathtaking natural beauty.  She says that growing up there inspired her love of nature.
  • When she learned about the devastating effects plastic waste was having on the oceans, Howey asked her school to end its use of disposable plastic tableware in the cafeteria.  The school refused, saying that they would stick to the plastic because it was the most hygienic.
  • The 17-year-old has said that she doesn’t believe in wasting precious time on hobbies and fun- not when so much of the natural world is being destroyed.
  • Was inspired by Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth,” which warns of the effects of climate change on the planet.
  • In 2019, Howey heard about “Fridays for Future,” the movement started by Greta Thunberg and carried forward by young environmentalists around the world.  She learned that students were going on school strikes in order to protest the lack of attention that governments and others in power were paying to the growing climate crisis, and she wanted to get involved.  In May 2019, she became the first person in China to hold a climate strike … and she did so all alone.  She stood in front of the city hall in Guilin, holding handwritten signs that urged the public to take action against climate change.  She stayed there for six days, skipping school classes, until she, as well as her parents, were taken in by police and questioned.
  • Following this protest, which many around the world followed on social media, Howey was not allowed to return to school.  To this day, she is waiting to be able to re-enroll, but she says that the authorities have told her that until she stops protesting, she will not be allowed back.  Howey has no plans to stop or even slow her efforts.
  • Once when she and her parents traveled to the city of Guangzhou, she was infuriated by their booking a hotel room, saying it was wasteful.  Howey spent the night outside in protest.  For ten cold hours, she planted herself in front of the hotel, posting on social media about the environmental abuses of the hotel industry.
  • In the fall of 2019, Howey created the “Plant for Survival” campaign, which aimed to plant as many trees around her town of Guilin as possible.  She used her own pocket money to buy trees.  She and others who helped with the campaign planted more than 3oo trees in Guilin.
  • Howey has traveled far and wide in China by train – often sleeping on city benches to save money – to try to connect with other climate activists and organizations around the country.
  • She plans to visit the Tibetan Plateau, nicknamed the “Third Pole,” because it contains the most ice and snow on the planet, after the polar regions.  This area has experienced some of the most severe effects of climate change on earth, with glaciers melting at staggering rates.  She wants to shine a spotlight on how the climate crisis is directly affecting the people who live there.
  • The Chinese government makes life difficult for people who speak up and challenge the status quo.  While raising awareness about climate change and insisting on action to slow its effects on the planet are not activities that are banned, any kind of call for collective protest is a problem for the government.  As a result, environmental groups in China work relatively quietly, generally striving to present themselves as non-critical of government policies.  Howey has tried to collaborate with nongovernmental environmental groups in China, but they have given her the cold shoulder, most likely because of her outspoken style of protest.
  • Howey herself has said, though, that she believes that a special kind of activism is needed in China, in order for it to be most effective.  Over the course of her work in China, she has not only felt threatened by the antagonism of local authorities, but also frustrated by the feeling that her solitary voice is resonating with no one.  She realizes that amidst the fear of speaking out against the government, directly or indirectly, only very few will join her fight.  She also understands the risks to her own personal safety, and she is careful not to directly point to the government, but instead more broadly to large corporations, as the culprits when it comes to environmental abuses.
  • Despite all this, Howey has expressed her intention to stay in China.  She wants to build a grassroots environmental movement in her own country.   She argues that China should take more of a lead in addressing the climate crisis, pointing to the fact that China produces 27% of the world’s CO₂ , even though it has only 18% of the global population.
  • Howey continues to study the science of climate change, as well as how to address the economic, social, and political complexities of the problem.  In the meantime, she is gaining recognition in the world.  Greta Thunberg herself has called Howey “a true hero,” especially given all the odds the young climate warrior must face.

Sources: Baptista, Eduardo, South China Morning Post, “Howey Ou, China’s version of Greta Thurnberg, pays price for climate activism,” https://www.scmp.com/howey-ou, July 28, 2020; Standaert, Michael, The Guardian, “China’s first climate striker warned: give it up or you can’t go to school,” https://www.theguardian.com/chinas-first-climate-striker-cant-return-to-school, July 19, 2020; Myers, Steven Lee, The New York Times, “Ignored and Ridiculed, She Wages a Lonesome Climate Crusade,” https://www.nytimes.com/ou-hongyi-china-climate.html, December 4, 2020.