We inhale wars. We exhale resistance. While governments pour trillions into weapons, the planet pays the price. Forests fall, snow disappears, oceans boil, our air slowly harms us, and our food loses nutrition. Yet 9 out of 10 people agree: countries can work together on climate action.
The General Will campaign is based on the Peoples’ Climate Vote. This is the world’s largest standalone public opinion survey on climate change, involving 77 countries, representing 87 percent of the world’s population. The 2024 survey asked 15 questions, including how climate change affects people’s daily lives, how well they think their country is responding, and what they believe should happen.
The results are remarkably clear and consistent worldwide: 86% of people want their governments to take stronger action on climate change. 80 % say they want to do more themselves. The General Will campaign is a prompt to bring that public will into action. Do you still want to breathe, eat, play, walk, or listen to the world around you?Then you are an activist, wether you want it or not.
What happens when we stop hearing the world? A current mass extinction event is erasing its original soundtrack. Species extinctions are now estimated to be 10 to 100 times higher than historical norms. The sounds of creatures, big and small, that live all around us, are fading along with the plant, parks, fields and forests with flowering trees we have inhabited for the last 6 million years.
They are being replaced by a very different sound. Four in five people (81%) globally said their country should do a lot to protect and restore nature.
Natural soundscapes are good for us. They lower heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones, promote relaxation and mental well-being. They enhance neural connectivity and networks governing attention, movement, and emotional regulation. Artificial sounds are associated with increased risks of cardiovascular issues, stress, cognitive effects, and sleep disturbance. City noise nowadays ranges from 70 dB to over 90 dB, about 2 to 8 times louder than the World Health Organization’s recommended limits.
You wake up and it’s that time of year again. The world outside dressed in white.
Snow on rooftops, snow on trees, snow muffling the noise of everything.
You grab a carrot, a scarf, a few stones. Time to build your perfect snowman before the snow turns heavy and wet.
But what if this is the last one?
Every year, 53% of people say they’re more worried about climate change than the year before. Another 31% feel just as worried.
Because walking on snow…that crunch and that cold… is becoming a luxury.
Each winter now begins with a question: will it snow at all?
A day at the beach, a dip in the sea while children build sandcastles. 76% of people are worried that these simple pleasures will not exist for the next generation.
Jellyfish blooms, mercury-filled rivers and dying coral reefs are no longer distant threats; they’re warnings that even play is at risk.
A farmer named Ravi still grows the same rice his father did. Same field. Same rain. Same sun.
But each harvest, the grain feels lighter in his hands. Scientists say the CO₂ in the air makes rice less nourishing. less protein, less iron, less zinc.
46% of people worldwide say extreme weather is getting worse. Ravi doesn’t need a survey to tell him that.
The monsoon comes too early, then not at all. The math is simple: More carbon in the sky, less life in the bowl.
Here’s a wild thought: despite trade wars, geopolitical disasters, and humans collectively losing their minds, roughly 9 out of 10 people on Earth agree that countries should cooperate on climate action.
Air pollution? It doesn’t care about borders. It rides the wind, fuels global warming, and ruins your lungs no matter where you live.
Meanwhile, in 2024, humans decided $2 trillion on military budgets was a better idea than fixing the planet. Spoiler: it’s not. Funding war over clean air, oceans, and sanity? Genius. Truly.
Here’s the memo: the world is ready to cooperate. Governments? Catch up.
Every choice we make shapes the world we leave behind. Rivers, forests, snowfields, and harvests are not abstract. They are the evidence of what we fight for.
This is a call to act, to turn outrage into movement, to demand that care, cooperation, and courage outweigh greed and destruction. The future isn’t waiting, and neither should we.
The ‘General Will’ workshop was facilitated by Ben Jones (@discodaddy96) and Claudia Núñez (@nunezcla). Particpants were: Ana Hupe, Katrin M. Kämpf, Anne Patzke, Marta Peirano, Cristina Pombo, Lira Ramadani, Shuree Sarantuya, Aida Tadayon
This project was conceived at the Pluriverse of Peace conference by BG | berlinergazette.de.
All text and images: Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0.