Six years left.
Only six years left until climate change becomes irreversible.
In 2018, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that the year 2030 would be humanity’s last chance to turn the climate crisis around. And in the six years since then, very few changes have been made.
Shah (12) has witnessed firsthand the destructive impact humans have made on the environment in a way most students in Colorado have not.
“Growing up, I spent a bunch of time in India, and there, it’s very, very affected by pollution,” she said. “You’d go out, and you wouldn’t be able to see the sun, the sky would just be so filled with smoke.”
Having watched a place close to her heart contribute so heavily to climate change, Shah felt a sense of duty to dedicate her time and energy to stopping it. The Marshall Fire, the destructive wildfire that decimated many communities in Louisville and Superior in 2021, only furthered this determination. Shah began to seek out opportunities to do her part in combating climate change.
“At first I felt like, ‘Oh, there’s nothing I can do. I just have to accept this and we’re all going to die.’ But I think I kind of discovered that there was an impact I could make, that I could take action,” Shah said. “And, of course, it’s not going to solve everything, but it gave me more hope.”
Since starting high school, Shah has worked to save the environment on both small and large scales. Co-President of the Eco Club since her junior year, she has coordinated several events to increase climate awareness and involvement within the student body.
“Last year, we organized the planting of a pollinator garden, which included collecting a bunch of cardboard, and then designing the space and planting,” Shah said. “We also did a thrift event where we took donated clothes and then redistributed them.”
Working in the Monarch community is just the beginning for Shah. She also engages in statewide and national movements to prevent the climate crisis. The Colorado Youth Advisory Council, or COYAC, is a nonpartisan group created in 2008 by the Colorado Legislature to bring youth voices into the lawmaking process. Representing Senate District 18, Shah is one of 40 members from around the state and works on an environmental committee within COYAC.
“Throughout the year, we work to identify issues we’re facing as young people and possible solutions to those issues,” Shah said. “And then over the summer, we take those solutions and present them to a legislative committee, and then we work with bill drafters and fiscal analysts to develop it into a bill, which then has a possibility of being officially introduced to the legislature.’’
Shah also works as a part of the Sunrise Movement, a national organization that advocates for environmental justice and a Green New Deal. Last year, Boulder Valley School District became the first school district in the nation to adopt their proposal for a Green New Deal for Schools, which promotes climate literacy through a comprehensive climate justice curriculum.
Macey Austin, 2024 Monarch graduate and Shah’s former Eco Club Co-President, worked with her in the Sunrise Movement.
“Ashna’s involvement in things like the Sunrise Movement is a great step towards working against climate change, because it’s holding governments accountable,” she said.
With the Sunrise Movement, Shah and Austin reached out to candidates for various government positions to discuss their environmental policies and push them to prioritize climate change prevention over fossil fuel corporations and similar groups.
“Part of our goal is not electing politicians who deny the climate crisis or politicians who will take money to repeal environmental protections,” Shah said. “Our future is not for sale, and our future shouldn’t be on the chopping block in an election year.”
While Shah urges fellow students and young people to join the environmental movement, she maintains that everyone in every age group has a responsibility to do their part.
“We have six years left,” Shah said. “And I think we need to act like it.”
