By Sophia Kianni and Jad Daley, Photo: Screenshot from video in article, TIME, January 23, 2023
The climate movement has reached a pivotal juncture. We have an array of constructed and natural climate solutions with proven potential to reduce greenhouse gases and foster climate resilience, from renewable energy and electric vehicles to reforestation and climate-smart agriculture. There is just one catch: To avoid the worst of climate change, we must deploy these solutions much faster than ever before, as made clear by the sixth report from theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Fortunately, we have a talented and relentless group of climate leaders ready to make this happen—young people.
Youth have shown the right kind of leadership qualities to get the climate movement from a jog to a sprint, and inspire more people and organizations to come on board. If we hope to create climate justice, we must fully empower this burgeoning youth climate movement by giving young leaders the funding, standing, and platform they need to maximize their contributions.
Young people have provided recent demonstration of their unique commitment to climate action and power to energize the whole climate movement. Take the recent COP27 climate conference in Egypt, where well-prepared young leaders directly engaged in talks with national delegations and challenged the assembled world leaders at COP27 to “stop lying” in a plenary address. This same urgency and commitment was demonstrated by American youth who waited in line for hours to tip the 2022 Midterm Elections in favor of candidates who match young voters’ attitudes on climate change.
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