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The solutions for climate change are in the hands of our children. Chip in to help young climate activists attend youth climate summits in New Orleans and New York City so they have the tools to take on humanity's greatest challenge.
Friend,
Last week His Holiness Pope Francis released his encyclical on climate change. He calls on all of us to take the necessary steps to repair and protect our only home. But there is one line in his beautiful offering that struck me the most, "Young people demand change. They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded."1
The future of this planet and humanity's survival are in the hands of young people. The United Nations says, "The work undertaken with and by youth is crucial to raise ambitions of governments to come to an agreement on a new climate regime."2 But you and I know that too many young people lack the support they need to make lasting, necessary and effective changes. That's why we're teaming up with our friends at Gulf South Rising (GSR) and Uprose Brooklyn to bring young people from around the country to youth climate summits in New Orleans and New York City this summer.
But in order to get young people to these important summits, I really need your help. Can I count on you to help young climate change activists get the tools they need to take on humanity's greatest challenge? As an added bonus, anyone who chips in $80 or more will be entered into a raffle to win a men's raincoat donated from our friends at Patagonia to help put on important climate summits like this.
- $25 purchases training materials for 15 youth activists who attend;
- $50 rents study and living space for one youth leader during the summit; and
- $100 sends a youth activists to one of the summit and pays for meals;
New Orleans is commemorating the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina this year, one of the worst natural disasters in our nation's history. The impacts on the Gulf coast were devastating -- especially for young people of color and low-wealth communities. That's why GSR and Uprose are hosting huge youth climate summits to empower young activists from those same communities to fight for a just society without extreme energy and discrimination. Together, they hope to build an equitable recovery from disasters, and develop resilient communities.
A recent study revealed that poor children from New Orleans still experience post-traumatic effects from Katrina including high anxiety and behavioral challenges.3 And in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, young people in New York City have seen the same impacts and are fighting to make their communities more sustainable and resilient before the next climate induced storm.4 Now more than ever, our young people need all the tools to fight for climate justice. And to make sure young activists are supplied with those tactics and tools, we're helping them attend summits like the ones in New Orleans and New York City.
As we give the future of our planet, our only home, to our children and youth, they will be the ones to develop solutions to global warming. This is especially true for children and youth of color and those from front line communities. Their survival, and the survival of humanity, will depend on whether they are informed, resilient and furnished with an arsenal of solutions. So it's important these young leaders get the training they need now to be best prepared for future challenges.
Philippino author Jose Rizal once said, "The youth is the hope for our future." That's why I need you to help fund this very important summit -- so that the youth are not only the hope for our future, but its saviors as well.
Please click here to help young activists shape a climate future of justice and resiliency, and enter your chance to win a new Patagonia rain coat.
Thanks for standing with and for our future,
Anthony for Environmental Action
1. Encyclical Letter, Laudato Si of the Holy Father Francis: On Care for Our Common Home.
2. The United Nations: Youth and Climate Change Fact Sheet.
3. Reckdahl, Katy. The Lost Children of Katrina. The Atlantic. April 2, 2015.
4. Bekiempis, Victoria. In Far Rockaway Election, Youth Spearhead Police Reform. Newsweek. June 23, 2015. |
