Climate Action: Raffi’s Bold New Songs

Have you ever tried to change the world—really put your heart into it and stayed the course because it simply became part of you? Most of us haven’t. Raffi, however, has done exactly that. Once called “the most popular children’s singer in the English-speaking world” (Washington Post) and “Canada’s all-time children’s champion” (Toronto Star), Raffi has been lighting up children’s faces with smiles for four decades. His work on behalf of children is also longstanding. Raffi sings to help change the world for the better, and his two new climate songs do exactly that. These songs are exactly what the world needs to hear right now. 

Raffi’s not the only one working for climate action, of course. A notable young change maker is
Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teen climate activist who has inspired marches by young people
around the world. She just completed an incredible 15-day, 3,000-mile (4,800km) voyage on a
carbon-neutral sailboat across the Atlantic, where she attended the recent United Nations climate summit.

Taking note, Raffi wrote a tribute song for Greta and her inspiring work. After all, sustainability is one of the nine principles of his Child Honouring philosophy.

One of his new songs, “Young People Marching,” doesn’t mince words. It embodies the very spirit that Greta conveys when she so eloquently speaks to world leaders and influencers; the leaders of today and the leaders yet to come.

Similarly, Raffi’s other new song, “Do We Love Enough,” is thought provoking and compelling. It drives us to want to do more for those who aspire to continue living safely on this planet. It asks the questions that we need to be asking ourselves. What are our own answers? 

For Raffi, climate action isn’t a passing fancy.

Even as far back as 2007, he released a catchy song called “Cool It.” More recently, in a 2017 essay for NBC news, Raffi wrote, “Kids born today will face unprecedented global crises within their lifetimes, including the possible collapse of fisheries, accelerated mass extinctions, decimation of coral reefs and rising sea levels… Finding a remedy for our species is a matter of survival.” His consistent advocacy for children and for the Earth are inexorably interrelated. He’s shared his own response to the climate emergency here. You can also read his press release on the same topic.

Now, with new songs for Greta and for the rest of us, what Raffi’s conveying is clear. Just as we share this planet, we also share the responsibility of taking care of it. Raffi’s music compels us to listen; it compels us to change for the better.

We must respond to the climate emergency in thought, word, and deed. Our world needs emergency responders.

Further reading:

This article describes how we can help children learn how to protect the Earth by talking to them about it, showing them ways others are doing it (like Greta and Raffi are here), and by empowering them to be change makers in the climate emergency.