---

Cartoonist Tom Toro made a famous cartoon on the climate crisis with the caption: “Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders”. Maybe you have seen this cartoon before. A few weeks ago, Tom Toro and The Climate Museum invited people to create their own caption for the cartoon. So here is mine: “Maybe the planet will be completely destroyed. But I believe in your abilities, kids, to turn things around for the better” (see image 1).

It can be read as an absurd thing that the younger generations have to pay for something that they were not responsible for, especially when destructive and greenwashing activities still continue even in dire situations. But there is also a bit of hope in my caption because the planet is for sure not yet completely destroyed… and maybe and hopefully it won’t. And younger generations actually do have a lot of power to do things differently than before, and there lies a lot of strength in intergenerational action. With my caption I want to include the kids that are part of the cartoon.

Which got me thinking that there should be a version where the kids do the talking. Here it goes: “Hey, us kids think it’s time to really redefine shareholder value and work towards a better future.” To which the person on the left gives thumbs up. (see image 2)

It was fun and also quite the challenge to come up with something that captures the absurdity of socio-ecological destruction. What would you write in the cartoon caption?