These kids want climate action. Here are the cutting questions they’re asking CEOs

“You are not a powerful leader. You are a disgrace.”

Skye Neville, a 13-year-old Welsh eco-activist, recently said this point blank to Nestle’s global head of public affairs during a meeting about the food and beverage conglomerate’s contribution to the climate crisis. She wasn’t alone in criticising the company. Seven other children, aged from 10 to 15, sat intently around the same boardroom table, determined to make one thing clear: they believe the company is not doing enough.

Director Damon Gameau (top) and the young stars of Future Council.

This powerful scene is captured in Future Council, a documentary film that follows eight children travelling across Europe in a vegetable oil-powered school bus to better understand the climate crisis, and to hold those in positions of power to account.

Directed by and featuring Damon Gameau (That Sugar Film), Future Council is a stark reminder not to underestimate young people’s understanding of the world around us – an insight that hit Gameau during the press tour for his 2019 documentary 2040, which also centred on environmental awareness.

“We did many classroom screenings for that film. I was shocked by the level of acumen the younger generation had around sustainability. My generation probably underestimated this new generation and how much information they’re exposed to,” Gameau says.

“The ones who are passionate about sustainability actually know far more than most adults do. I just thought, these children need their own platform – a way to express their ideas, their concerns for the future, and why they should have a say in shaping their future given they’re going to inherit it.”

Gameau and Ruby Rodgers, one of the young eco-activists who hold big wig CEOs to account.Credit: Edwina Pickles

It turns out many children were craving such a platform – more than 1000 young people from across the globe auditioned to take part in Gameau’s Euro-environmental adventure, making it a tough job to narrow the group down.

“But the final eight, they really chose themselves,” Gameau says. “As soon as they were on camera, there was something in me that went, ‘OK, they’re coming on the trip’.”

Ruby Rodgers, a 15-year-old singer-songwriter, ecoactivist and granddaughter of rock legend Jimmy Barnes, was one of them. Having grown up in a musical family, Rodgers says she’s long been aware of the environmental impact of touring. This awareness inspired her to write the song Crisis, a hopeful ballad about the natural world’s survival, which features in Future Council.

“Music is a universal language, it can get through to anyone,” Ruby says. “It has become my safe space. Whenever I feel down, or whenever I have these strong emotions or fears, I can always express myself better through song.”

While her songs can usually cut through to anyone, Ruby says it’s not always the case for her words. Young people’s ideas and opinions are frequently dismissed by adults, she says, which can seriously impact a child’s self-worth. Taking part in Future Council reminded Ruby she deserves to be heard.

The same goes for her fellow Future Council travellers, such as 12-year-old Aurvi Jain, who read ING’s entire 2022 climate risk assessment report in preparation for a meeting with one its executives, and 10-year-old Clemence Currie, who launched a plastic pick-up crew at her local beach in Scotland at the age of four.

As important as it is for the children to acknowledge their capabilities, Gameau hopes those in positions of power also realise how vital kids are when designing the future.

“What we desperately need right now from leadership and corporations is a sense of morality. The children have that innately. They also remind us to be playful, to tap into that inner child and stay in your heart,” he says.

“If we get too bogged down in the data, debates and graphics, we’re no good to anyone because it crushes our spirit. The thing that’s going to turn this around is our humanity ... The children’s great superpower is to say, ‘keep caring’.”

Clearly it worked. Following production, retailer Decathlon agreed to regularly meet with Future Council. ING Bank also agreed to meet with the group and offered to financially support them.

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Ruby says knowing she and her Future Council peers were able to make global companies consider change fills her with immense pride.

“I’ve gained a whole new sense of hope,” she says.

“I’m excited to get it out there more because then we can have more people feeling that way. The main goal is to help our environment, but I think our other goal is to bring people together and make everyone feel like they belong. That’s what drives us to make change.”

Future Council will land in cinemas on August 7. Gameau will host special Q&A screenings at select Melbourne cinemas this weekend.

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