GreenPolicyProf

Lauren Acheson, Naazia Ebrahim, and George Hoberg

Posted August 25, 2009

Climate action organizations are increasingly involving youth in the lead up to this December’s Copenhagen climate summit. At this conference, world leaders will gather to attempt to devise a new plan to combat climate change. Many organizations hope that the voices of youth will influence the creation of an effective and binding plan of action.

Youth mobilization on climate makes sense for two reasons. First, youth want to be involved because they have the most at stake in the climate change policy debate. Current youth and their descendents are the ones who will suffer the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions.

The second reason for youth mobilization is that climate action organizations may believe greater youth involvement might influence the adults currently more directly involved in decision making about climate policy. Efforts thus far to use science-based arguments to motivate adults and the politicians responsible to them have generally not been successful in producing strong climate policies. Perhaps a widespread appeal from youth might force adults to reframe their interests and respond with more meaningful climate action.

                This blog will examine the variety of youth initiatives that have emerged around the world. We will focus first on international movements and then we will turn to a discussion of youth mobilization in the United States and Canada. Specifically, we will look at 350.org, the United Nations’ Children’s Climate Forum and Seal the Deal, Power Shift America and Power Shift Canada.

International Events

                350.org is an international organization dedicated to spreading awareness that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere must be reduced to 350 parts per million (ppm) —  current levels are approximately 390 ppm.. The organization was created by Bill McKibben, an environmentalist and author of several books, including The End of Nature. McKibbin was inspired to create 350.org by NASA’s Dr. James Hansen, who believes that 350 ppm is the highest level of CO2 that can safely exist in the atmosphere. The group declared October 24, 2009 as the International Day of Climate Action. On this day, people around the world will gather in groups and, in their own way, meaningfully depict the number “350” in some fashion. 350.org allows its participants freedom to choose which type of event they will hold, which means a 350 event could be a peaceful event (such as a march) or a more aggressive protest. Regardless of participants’ methods, 350.org’s aim is to educate the public about climate change.

                350.org encourages youth participation and recruits young participants through various means. A section of the 350.org website provides guidelines and suggestions for events, which is perfect for youth who have no previous experience in event planning. Also, 350.org uses Twitter and Facebook to advertise October 24^th. And finally an entire section of the website is devoted to recruiting youth. Thus on October 24, 2009 numerous youth across the world will stand up and ask world leaders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

                The UNICEF Children’s Climate Forum 2009 is another international event involving youth to raise awareness about dangerous CO2 levels. The Children’s Forum will occur in Copenhagen on November 30, 2009. During this event, five person groups, ages 14-17, from 42 countries, will discuss climate change with world leaders. UNICEF’s Executive Director Ann M. Veneman believes that the leaders of the world must listen to children “because what is good for children…is also good for the planet”.

                Another climate action project, Seal the Deal, has two components. The first component  is a global petition launched by the United Nations. The aim is for politicians to, “Seal the Deal at COP 15 on a climate agreement that is definitive, equitable and effective, set binding targets to cut greenhouses gases by 2020, establish a framework that will bolster the climate resilience of vulnerable countries and protect lives and livelihoods and support developing countries’ adaptation efforts and secure climate justice for all.”  The second component of Seal the Deal is youth action. Seal the Deal is organizing a large march to capital cities around the world where young participants will deliver the above petition to world leaders.

North America

                In North America, youth climate action has been spearheaded by Power Shift America, which held an event on Feb 27 -March 2. 2009 which gathered over 10,000 American youth in Washington, D.C. to lobby for stricter climate action policies. Power Shift was created by the Energy Action Coalition, which is an alliance among young people to promote clean energy. Power Shift demands legislation that follows four  principles:

1.       cut carbon dramatically and immediately

2.       invest in a green economy

3.       power our future with clean energy, not dirty fuels

4.       lead the world to a clean and equitable energy future

Since early March, Power Shift America has continued to lobby politicians. Currently the website is gathering photos of young people holding up messages such as, “I voted for: 100% Clean Energy, Not Coal”. The website also provides other lobbying suggestions to participants, such as writing letters to senators. Power Shift America believes that green American legislation will influence the rest of the world. For this reason, Power Shift America continues to evolve and exist as a youth lobbying network designed to push green legislation.

Unlike Power Shift America, Power Shift Canada’s goal is international. Power Shift Canada will gather youth in Ottawa on October 21-23 2009 to lobby politicians to improve climate policies produced when they are in Copenhagen. Canada’s Power Shift is coordinated by the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition (CYCC), a coalition of many smaller groups., including Bringing Youth Towards Equality (BYTE), Emerging Leaders Committee (a group which promotes career opportunities for youth), Canadian Labour Congress, Taking it Global, Sierra Youth Coalition, Peel Youth Environmental Alliance, Check Your Head Networks, Canadian Auto Workers Youth Network (CAWYN), and the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS).

The CYCC has two purposes for Power Shift Canada. The first purpose is to educate Canadian youth about strategies for combating climate change. The second purpose is to gather youth on Parliament Hill for a lobbying event that will also garner media attention and hopefully influence Copenhagen.

Conclusion

                Clearly, there is a surge in climate action organizations targeting youth. Many youth understandably feel that they have the most to lose from inadequate climate policies. But there seems to be more at work here. Climate action organizations see youth mobilization as an opportunity to address one of the most important obstacles to climate action. As we argued in an earlier post, the political dilemma of climate action in a nutshell is that the costs of action are here, now, and relatively certain, but the benefits of action are global, distant in time, and highly uncertain. A youth movement promises to reshape the temporal, inter-generational component of the dilemma. If a youth movement could succeed in making adults place greater weight on the consequences of their actions (and inactions) for children, it would prove to be powerful political catalyst for meaningful climate action in Copenhagen and beyond.

 We thank Gordon McCullough for ideas and editing on this post.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 1:17 am and is filed under Climate Action Policy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.