As the world burns, young Australians are feeling disbelief – and looking for answers

It's the first year that marks a rise of over 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The news arrives as my entire feed is flooded with pictures of a massive blaze tearing through neighbourhoods in LA, in the middle of winter.

I'm scandalised. Scandalised that the lives of young people and future generations are being led astray by the choices we're making now. And still we're expected to have to plead with politicians to safeguard our health and wellbeing in the face of the devastating effects of climate pollution.

At present, there is still no legislation in Australia that acknowledges the significant effect that climate change will have on young people and subsequent generations.

Fires in the style of those in Los Angeles are a possibility in cities such as Sydney and Melbourne. How prepared are we for such a scenario?

As health crises mount due to pollution from climate change, I'm shocked that the very same issues are having devastating effects so soon yet our government persists in accrediting coal and gas projects that put our future in jeopardy.

The Earth is going up in flames. As young people all over the world vent their frustrations at the short-sighted attitude of their politicians, who refuse to take their longer-term needs on board, I, too, feel extremely angry.

, authored by myself and three of my friends, which seeks to compel the government to enact a Duty of Care bill.

This proposal, now a private bill introduced by Senator David Pocock, aims to secure a responsibility owed by governments to provide for the health and well-being of young people in the face of climate change. This would involve making sure that, for example, if a project posed a genuine risk to the health and well-being of young people, it would not be permitted to go ahead. It seeks to establish a law that focuses on the future rather than the short-term electoral cycle of three years.

Despite the rising public opposition and the backing of prominent individuals, the bill has been met with a lack of interest. The gap between the views of young people and the government's policies demonstrates the significant difference between what the government promises and what it actually does – or, indeed, fails to do when it comes to action. And it is within this gap that my lack of faith is rooted, as we carry on fighting not only for a decent quality of life in the future, but also for the right to be heard in the discussion about it.

I'm not the only one. The average young person can feel strongly about issues such as climate change, housing, and the cost of living, yet be unable to recall the name of their local MP. This highlights a strained relationship between young people and the electoral process in the UK.

One thing that's striking is the awareness and access to information that we have in our generation. We can now get the latest global news with just a click of a button, and we're also quite well-informed about the reality of climate change.

Policy decisions over the past three years, including the putting on hold of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act reforms and the not supporting the duty of care bill, show that this government doesn't appear to be concerned about young people and their futures. Even if this wasn't the intended impression, it's the one that gets across though.

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The third option is disengagement, which can be summed up as becoming disillusioned with news because it's all so negative, or feeling disconnected from politics because it's just a lot of empty arguments and people shouting at each other. I've noticed many of the young people I used to know as being highly engaged in politics becoming increasingly disinterested, one by one, as they exhaust themselves trying to push for positive change, juggling long hours of campaigning on top of school and work, yet seeing hardly any progress.

This disillusionment, this feeling of hopelessness, is the silent assassin. It is the failure of democracy, the fact that young people feel stranded in a political system not designed with them in mind. And why wouldn't we be disenchanted?

Next year will be an election year. Some young people will be watching closely, while others will be dismissive of what they see as empty promises made by leaders which they believe will not be honoured. The only way to restore faith in the democratic process is through active participation, and a willingness from leaders to hear out the views of young people rather than pushing forward with a rigid agenda that disregards their perspectives.

It could possibly begin with the duty of care bill.

• Anjali Sharma was the main complainant in Sharma v environment minister, the significant court case against the then federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, which called for a duty of care to safeguard children against the impacts of the climate emergency.