Partner News | Connect4Climate

Short film Peace Boat contributes to the Talanoa Dialogue for Climate Ambition

Last summer, a group of youth from Fiji, Palau, Timor-Leste, Seychelles, Mauritius, Singapore, and Barbados joined Peace Boat to take part in the second edition of the Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme. During the programme, Peace Boat filmed a short documentary directed by the social impact filmmaker, Ryan Carl. This 6-minute video, ‘The Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors – A Short Film by Peace Boat’ aims to contribute to the Talanoa Dialogue for Climate Ambition, a process to take stock of collective efforts to reduce emissions and build greater resilience, in line with the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.

[video:https://vimeo.com/289616328]

Through its 35-year history of conducting educational voyages, Peace Boat has visited many small islands states organizing study and exchange programmes. During this time, Peace Boat has witnessed first-hand how these small territories on the front line of climate change have experienced a degradation of their coastal areas. In 2017, Peace Boat began the Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme to bring youth leaders from countries which are members of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to travel onboard our ship, engaging in capacity building and bringing their message to citizens and government representatives through the voyage.

After the success of the first edition, which brought together youth from Fiji, the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Seychelles, Maldives, Trinidad and Tobago, and Belize, the second edition was organized in June and July 2018. The third edition will take place in May-June 2019. Peace Boat’s Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme was launched at the United Nations Ocean Conference and recognized by the COP23 Presidency Secretariat as an Endorsed Event of COP23.

The Ocean and Climate Youth Ambassadors Programme participants took a photo with the Connect4Climate flag while on board the Peace Boat.

Building momentum and engaging stakeholders in the countries visited

In 2018, the second edition of the programme started in Stockholm, Sweden. The young leaders engaged with local, regional and national governments, civil society and the scientific community taking part in awareness-raising and outreach events in ports visited, including in Copenhagen, Denmark; Bergen, Norway; Reykjavik, Iceland; Halifax, Canada and concluding their voyage in New York, US. Participants gave testimony of their experiences and the impact of climate change and marine degradation on their communities. Music, dance, art, and spoken word were incorporated into the activities in port for wider appeal and dissemination via social and traditional media, both as a call to action and to build momentum for action for the climate and ocean. Throughout the programme, there was an emphasis on possible solutions to the crisis as the youth shared about inspiring initiatives in their own countries at the local and government level. They learnt from local projects and efforts for climate action and marine protection in the countries they visited. The short documentary outlines some of the activities in the programme.

The short filmed by the social impact filmmaker Ryan Carl is available now on Vimeo.

Mapping the future of climate action

What if you could generate and sell renewable energy for extra income? How do technologies like blockchain change the equation for climate finance? Could Internet bots be repurposed to drive climate activism? We asked a range of experts and executives from academia, design, tech, finance, and media to forecast the future of climate action.

The result was A New Story to Spark the Future of Climate Action, a joint study launched this week from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) and the Institute for the Future (IFTF) that identifies the zones of opportunity, barriers, and potential new actors over the next decade in the always-evolving realm of climate action.

A New Story to Spark the Future of Climate Action - report.

The report was launched on September 13, 2018, at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco (download the report in pdf).

“We need to revisit the narrative and adjust the way we present the prospect of climate action. We need to move the climate discourse out of the doom and gloom and towards positive, ‘opportunities thinking’.”

Mafalda Duarte, head of the Climate Investment Funds

The analysis concludes, among other things, that disruptive technologies like blockchain and the rise of “solastalgia,” or the wistfulness one feels about terrains lost to climate change, will be increasingly powerful drivers of global and community-level change.

A New Story to Spark the Future of Climate Action also identifies opportunity areas where individuals and organizations can work to accelerate climate action, including:

Understanding that climate change is an economic opportunity. Climate action has investment potential in the trillions of dollars, and the ability to ramp up innovation, clean industries, and green jobs.

Turning to women as climate leaders. Women are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change, but if fully empowered, they can be effective climate advocates as policymakers and community leaders.

Deploying bots as a force for good. Internet bots, a technology better known for dividing public opinion, have the potential to spur climate activism at scale.

Speaking at the launch event, which featured an art exhibition depicting an array of possible utopian and dystopian climate futures, Mafalda Duarte talked about a new approach to climate change. “Currently, we seem to be playing constant catch up; continually reacting to the issues as they arise rather than forecasting where the next challenges and opportunities are and deploying our next-gen thinking and resources to meet them,” she said. “It is therefore important to ensure that the best and brightest ‘futures thinkers’ are brought into the fold. Be they inventors, researchers, artists, business gurus, etc."

Our goals may seem ambitious, Mafalda Duarte said. “But it’s better to shoot for the stars and land among the tree tops than shoot for the tree tops and never leave the ground.”

A New Story to Spark the Future of Climate Action - Report

The Green Carpet Fashion Awards Italia 2018

Connect4Climate’s X-Ray Fashion was presented during the announcement of The Green Carpet Fashion Awards in Milan, Italy.

Created by MANND, and directed by renowned fashion photographer and filmmaker Francesco Carrozzini (Franca: Chaos and Creation), X-Ray Fashion immerses the viewer in the reality of the situation behind the clothes we wear and encourage positive action. The seven scenes of the film consist of 360-degree live-action footage that imparts a stunning, photo-realistic atmosphere. The transitions between the scenes consist of a CGI environment that allows the viewer to walk between the different scenes. This cinematic experience is a pioneering VR piece that tests the implementation of physical and sensory effects through settings that incorporate heat, wind, scent an shifting terrain. By adding multidimensional sensorial effects, the filmmakers seek to draw the participant into an immersive physical experience that enriches storytelling in a new way.

The X-Ray Fashion is the winner of the Uniting4Climate global VR pitch competition implemented under C4C’s Film4Climate initiative. The virtual reality experience is produced by Connect4Climate alongside philanthropist Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions and carbon-neutral company Alcantara.

[video:https://vimeo.com/290093378]

On September 19, Milan-Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, in collaboration with Eco-Age with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development, ITA and Comune di Milano offered a tantalising glimpse of this year’s line-up for second edition of The Green Carpet Fashion Awards Italia at la Scala on September 23.

13 award categories were unveiled at a press conference in Milan, alongside the first A-list presenters, actresses Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett and iconic model Cindy Crawford.

‘Change isn’t just on the horizon, it’s here and this year’s GCFAs reflect how the luxury industry and Italian supply chain is more resilient, agile and adaptive. This year’s awards show that the luxury fashion industry defined by Made in Italy is at the cutting edge of a global sustainability awakening’ - said Carlo Capasa, Chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana - The popularity of the GCFAs reflects the modern fashion industry and the modern sustainability movement that is based on evidence and outcomes. But these awards also honor the handprint, the human endeavor and commitment that goes into making world class products that are heirlooms of the future. That emotional resonance must be preserved and strengthened in order to be sustainable. It is why we are emotionally invested.’

Live @laScala in Milan! Press conference of the #gcfaitalia with Cristina Tajani, @cameramoda @liviafirth @GCC_ECOAGE #fashion4climate pic.twitter.com/wLGltUpYmy
— Connect4Climate (@Connect4Climate) September 19, 2018

Livia Firth said, ‘The issues within the global $3 trillion fashion industry are well known, and this year’s awardees are all about the solutions. Every recipient at La Scala is re-imagining and reworking the supply chain for the future and reinvesting in the planet and in people. La Scala is the night we can amplify bold and brilliant solutions to environmental and social crises. It is a night for the game changers!’

“The ICE Agency supports the Green Carpet Fashion Awards from its conception, and has renewed its support to the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana for this second edition. It is important that the aspect of sustainability is continuously and increasingly shared by producers and consumers all over the world, and with this award we want to highlight the achievements of the Italian fashion industry in this scope. They have contributed not only by increasing the performance of Made in Italy from an environmental point of view, but from an economic standpoint as well: being ‘green’ helps companies be more efficient and increase their exports,” Michele Scannavini, Chairmain of ICE Agency.

“Having achieved, for the second year running, an event with an international vocation like the Green Carpet Fashion Award means being able to bring the issues of environmental sustainability to the center of the debate in the entire fashion sector. Arguments that today, more and more, are a discriminating factor in purchasing choices, especially for millennials. We managed to give back to Milan the role of trailblazer in the fashion world, by addressing delicate issues that can no longer be postponed, such as attention to the environment and the protection and respect of men work”, comments the Councilor for Commerce, Productive Activities, Fashion and Design Cristina Tajani who continues. “The Green Carpet Award with Milano XL is a component of a strategy to promote Italian know-how that we hope will continue in the next editions of Fashion Week, counting on the renewed support of the Government, to make Milan the heart for the Made in Italy.”

Despite being a new addition to the fashion calendar, the awards have established themselves as one of the world’s foremost fashion events. Last year’s event attracted the biggest names in fashion and entertainment, with global coverage across fashion, entertainment, innovation, science, and environment platforms.

Green Carpet Fashion Awards Italia 2018 press conference. Photo Credits: Giulia Braga / Connect4Climate

Hamish Bowles, Creative Director for the garden in La Scala Square and all elements of the GCFAs and Vogue International Editor at Large says: ‘The hummingbird motif that is threaded through the Green Carpet Fashion Awards gala was chosen as this tiny bird symbolizes industry, adaptability and resilience - all qualities that are integral to the concept of sustainability. We looked at nineteenth century imagery that bears witness to that era’s fascination with these extraordinary birds that continue to compel us with their seemingly weightless beauty - their lightness of being.”

The concept was originally created by UK based company Dresd’, the leading sustainable events agency, which chose the Hummingbird as this year’s theme.

The 2018 GCFAs reach further and more deeper and reflect a social and cultural shift in the fashion industry. The GCFA Leaders Award will award the individual who has done most to advance inclusion and accessibility in fashion in order to change the conversation for the long term. Alongside star designers and stars of stage and screen will be fashion’s new star communicators, including the world’s biggest stars of blogging and social media reflecting a continued evolution in communication.

One of the most eagerly awaited awards returning for 2018 is The Franca Sozzani GCC Best Emerging Designer, in memory of Franca Sozzani, the Vogue Italia editor who championed sustainability and diversity. Since the finalists were decided by a stellar panel of judges in July during Paris Couture Week, five finalists have been preparing for La Scala where one will be crowned the winner and receive a one-year business mentorship programme by The Bicester Village Shopping Collection.

One category winner has already been revealed. Suzy Menkes, the iconic fashion journalist was announced as the recipient of The Visionary Award at a special reception at the Venice Film Festival.

The 2018 Green Carpet Fashion Awards are set to become a similar unstoppable force. Winners will receive the iconic statuette symbolizing a woman and handcrafted by Chopard with fairmined gold.

A special thanks goes to our partners, which honour the values of the Green Carpet Fashion Awards and contribute with different initiatives to the success of the event.

This year’s partners include The Bicester Village Shopping Collection by Value Retail, Chopard, Borsa Italiana, ISKO, Technogym, The Woolmark Company, Gallerie d’Italia, Aquafil, Instagram. A special thanks for the support to Consorzio Franciacorta, S.Pellegrino, Richard Ginori and illy.

National governments urged to step up climate action by 2020 at the end of landmark summit

Bold new commitments announced by thousands of states, regions, cities, businesses, investors and NGOs

Focus turns to UN Climate Conference in Poland and UN Secretary General’s Leaders’ Summit in 2019

For a chronological, full list of announcements – please click here

A major international summit ended today in California with delegates calling on national governments to join forces to step up climate action ahead of 2020—the year when global greenhouse gases need to peak and fall sharply thereafter to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

The meeting of leaders from states and regions, cities, business, investors and civil society at the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) underlined the transformational action they are already pursuing.

Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco 2018. Photo Credit: Kaia Rose / Connect4Climate

Photo Credits: Kaia Rose / Connect4Climate

Over 100 leaders, for example, are now committed to carbon neutrality—or removing as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they emit with the Governor of California bringing the date forward for his state achieving this to 2045.

Leaders also unveiled a range of bold new commitments across five specific challenge areas aimed at taking their collective ambition to the next level. These are aimed at avoiding risks and seizing the opportunities outlined in a suite of reports including the new Unlocking the Inclusive Growth Story of the 21st Century by the New Climate Economy.

It finds that a stepped-up transition to a low-carbon economy can:

Result in $26 trillion in economic benefits worldwide through 2030.

Generate over 65 million new low-carbon jobs in 2030, equivalent to today’s entire workforces of the U.K. and Egypt combined.

Avoid over 700,000 premature deaths from air pollution in 2030.

Generate, through just subsidy reform and carbon pricing, an estimated US$2.8 trillion in government revenues per year in 2030—equivalent to the total GDP of India today—funds that can be used to invest in other public priorities or reduce distorting taxes.

By a shift to more sustainable forms of agriculture combined with strong forest protection, deliver potentially more than US $2 trillion per year of economic benefits, generating millions of jobs, improving food security—including by reducing food loss and waste—and delivering over a third of the climate change solution.

By restoring natural capital, especially our forests, degraded lands and coastal zones, strengthen our defenses and boost adaptation to climate impacts, from more extreme weather patterns to sea-level rise.

The announcements during and prior to the Global Climate Action Summit are helping realize this promise that will in turn support the achievement of the Paris Climate Change Agreement now and over the years and decades to come.

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr of California, and a Summit co-chair said, “This week, cities, states, businesses and non-profits stepped up and took strong action at the Global Climate Action Summit. Now it’s time to take this momentum back home. Climate change waits for nobody. Let’s get to work.”

Photo Credits: Kaia Rose / Connect4Climate

Healthy Energy Systems

An alliance of more than 60 state/regional, city governments and multinational businesses are now committed to a 100% zero emission targets through the ZEV Challenge.

12 regions – including Catalonia, Lombardy, Scotland, and Washington State, representing over 80 million people and over 5 percent of global GDP will have 100 per cent zero emission public fleets by 2030.

26 cities with 140 million people are committed to buy only zero emission buses starting in 2025 and creating zero emission areas in their cities starting in 2030.

Business is stepping-forward with 23 multinational companies in EV100, with revenue of over $470 billion, committed to taking fleets zero emission.

IKEA Group will transition to EV in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and Shanghai by 2020 – to reach 100% zero emissions for last mile home delivery.

More than 3.5 million additional zero emission vehicle charging points will be installed by 2025, and a goal for transport hydrogen to be zero-emissions by 2030 was launched

Almost 400 global companies along with health care providers, cities, states and regions now have 100% renewable energy targets.

This includes nearly 150 major global companies such as Tata Motors and Sony who have joined the RE100 initiative: collective annual revenues of these companies total well over US $2.75 trillion and their annual electricity demand is higher than that of Poland.

Over 30 energy intensive industry and property players have set smart energy and net zero carbon buildings targets through EP100.

Inclusive Economic Growth

488 companies from 38 countries have adopted emission reduction pathways in line with the science of the Paris Agreement—up nearly 40 per cent from last year.

Nearly a fifth of Fortune Global 500 companies have now committed to set science-based emissions reduction targets including big emitters like India’s Dalmia Cement

As one example, Levi Strauss & Co. has an approved Science Based Target for a 90 per cent reduction in emissions in all owned-and-operated facilities and 40 per cent reduction in its supply chain by 2025.

Collectively these more than 480 companies represent $10 trillion of the global economy, equivalent to the value of the NASDAQ stock exchange.

At the Summit, 21 companies announced the Step Up Declaration, a new alliance dedicated to harnessing the power of emerging technologies and the fourth industrial revolution to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions across all economic sectors and ensure a climate turning point by 2020.

Signatories include several established climate leaders: Akamai Technologies, Arm, Autodesk, Bloomberg, BT, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, HP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lyft, Nokia, Salesforce, Supermicro, Symantec, Tech Mahindra, Uber, Vigilent, VMware, WeWork, Workday, and

Companies Autodesk, Safaricom and Unilever became the first to join a new Pledge for a Just Transition to Decent Jobs. They pledged to only buy from renewable energy providers that uphold fundamental workers’ rights including social protections and wage guarantees.

Sustainable Communities

Over 70 big cities, home to some 425 million citizens, are now committed to carbon neutrality by 2050, including Accra, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Mexico City.

These actions alone will lead to a 2.5 percent cut of annual global greenhouse gas emissions and the avoidance of 12 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2050.

A further 9,100 cities representing 800 million citizens are now committed to city-wide climate action plans.

This could lead to reductions of more than 60 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between now and 2050.

Mayors of over 70 of the world’s key cities reaffirmed their commitment to delivering on the highest ambitions of the Paris Agreement, namely to keep a global temperature rise to below 1.5℃. .

Cities are getting the job done, with other new city commitments that have put key cities on the path towards zero waste, to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions in new and existing buildings; and to deliver inclusive climate action that benefits all citizens equitably.

During the maiden voyage of the San Francisco Bay Area’s first plug-in hybrid electric ferry, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed a comprehensive package of bills aimed at dramatically reducing carbon emissions by boosting the number of zero-emission vehicles and charging stations in California and getting dirty cars and trucks off the road.

Meanwhile Starbucks, as one example, announced that by 2025 the company will have 10,000 Greener Stores globally, encompassing existing stores and new stores and renovations.

Photo Credits: Kaia Rose / Connect4Climate

Land and Ocean Stewardship

A powerful Leaders Group and a new alliance linking over 100 NGOs, businesses, state and local governments, indigenous groups and local communities was launched to fire up action across the forest, food and land agendas.

Over 100 global supply chain actors including supermarket chain Tesco and investors–managing over US $5.6 trillion–pledged to work with a variety of organizations to halt deforestation and native vegetation loss in the Cerrado, Brazil.

Walmart announced a new platform to identify high-risk jurisdictions and source palm oil and paper and pulp from jurisdictions with no deforestation. As an example, Unilever – an anchor partner and supplier to Walmart – will support farmer certification as well as restoration in the Sugut, Kinabatangan and Tawau river basins in Sabah, Malaysia.

Ecuador’s Inter-institutional Committee on Sustainable Palm Oil seeks to balance economic growth, productivity, and forest conservation and preservation. To achieve this, the Committee will work towards increasing production of palm oil on existing cultivation areas, by implementing sustainable agricultural practices based on national legislation and international standards, including the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO); thus, decreasing pressure on remaining forests in the country and strengthening the capacities of smallholder producers on sustainable management. These combined actions will contribute to Ecuador’s advancement in the fight against deforestation, using a jurisdictional sectoral approach, with a vision towards reducing and eliminating deforestation from palm oil production in the Amazon by 2025, as well as achieving zero deforestation from the sector by 2030, nation-wide

Through the Pacific Coast Collaborative, states and cities on the United States’ West Coast committed to reduce food loss and waste by 50% by 2030, a commitment with the potential to reduce 25 million tons of GHG emissions per year from the often-overlooked food sector.

The Global Environment Facility announced $500 million in funding to drive improved land use and forest conservation.

Nine of the world’s leading philanthropic foundations announced their intent to commit at least $459 million through 2022 to the protection, restoration and expansion of forests and lands worldwide—the announcement underlined indigenous peoples’ and traditional communities’ collective land rights and resource management.

Coral Vita announced it would be collaborating with Mote Marine Lab and Gates Coral Lab to commercialize innovative, resiliency-driven, and super-fast growing methods of ‘coral farming’ to replace dead and dying ones in the Caribbean. The pilot will be in Grand Bahama and then extended to other countries in the region and the world.

An initial $1 million public-private partnership between the office of US Senator Brian Shatz of Hawaii and NOAA, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Marc and Lynne Benioff was announced to support monitoring and research at the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.

Transformative Investments

The Investor Agenda was formally launched bringing together nearly 400 investors managing US $32 trillion of assets including CalPERS, the largest US pension fund; La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CPDQ), Danish pension fund PKA, and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.

It means that investors with assets more than a third larger than the economy of the United States are now firmly focused on accelerating and scaling-up financial flows into climate action and building a more sustainable, low-carbon, global economy.

CDPQ, Canada’s second largest pension fund has, for example, committed to increase its low-carbon investments by 50% by 2020, representing more than US$6.2 billion in new investment, and pledged to reduce the carbon intensity of its portfolio by 25% by 2025.

PKA, Denmark’s labor market pension fund manager, announced it plans to increase its investments in low-carbon climate solutions to 10 percent of its assets.

APG, the Dutch pension fund manager, announced it would no longer be investing in any coal related infrastructure going forward.

New York City announced it would be doubling its investments in clean energy and climate solutions to $4 billion over the next three years.

296 investors have now joined Climate Action 100+ which is working with some of the highest emitting companies to assist them in lowering emissions, getting on track with clean energy and the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Green Bond Pledge announced founding signatories including the City of Mexico, Luxembourg Green Exchange and SFPUC who join the state treasurers of California, New Mexico and Rhode Island; some major cities including the City of San Francisco; Australian pension fund LGS and two financial firms —which together should spur the goal of seeing US $ 1 trillion-worth of green bonds issued by end 2020.

A Global Green Bond Partnership, (GGBP) backed by the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, Amundi and major climate finance and sustainability groups was launched with the aim of supporting and assisting sub-national and corporate green bond issuance.

42 financial institutions gathered under the mainstreaming Climate Action in Financial Institutions initiative, representing over $13 trillion in assets, announced a commitment to helping cities, states, and regions finance climate action, including Multilateral Development Banks, members of the International Development Finance Club as well as leading private financial institutions from developing and developed countries.

At the end of the final plenary, Governor Edmund G Brown Jr announced that California would be developing its own climate change pollutant-monitoring satellite in partnership with San Francisco earth-imaging company Planet Labs.

Photo Credits: Kaia Rose / Connect4Climate

Call to Global Climate Action

The news came as delegates issued the Summit’s Call to Global Climate Action:

“We, the people gathered at the Global Climate Action Summit, and communities around the world calling for climate action, commit to a climate-safe future for all.”

“Now is the time for all leaders to step up and take bold action. Climate change is a threat to all humanity, and it can only be solved by a global cooperative effort. Only together will we transform our communities and energy systems, create employment opportunities and economic prosperity, protect our oceans and natural environment, and complete the transition to a zero-carbon world.”

“We call on the national governments of the world to: Step-Up Ambition Now including in the form of enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2020, consistent with what science tells us is needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement Now; Chart a Clear path to your Zero-carbon future and Empower Bottom-Up Climate Action,” it says.

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN climate change and Summit co-chair, said: “This Summit and its Call to Action make an important contribution towards achieving our collective goal: to keep global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius in line with the Paris Agreement. It will encourage governments worldwide to step up their actions, demonstrating the vital role that states and regions, companies, investors, and civil society are playing to tackle climate change.”

Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group and Summit co-chair, said: “The coming together of businesses, cities, states and regions at the GCAS has demonstrated the momentum that is needed to step up action on climate change. It has shown that the world doesn’t need to wait. Leaders the world over need to be authentic, committed and need to re-inspire people to follow this path. Acting on climate is at the core of the Mahindra Group, It is for this reason that I have extended my pledge that the entire Mahindra Group will become carbon neutral.”

Xie Zhenhua, Special Representative for Climate Change Affairs of China and Summit co-chair, said: “China will 100% achieve its Paris commitment”

UN Development Programmes Goodwill Ambassador and Danish Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster–Waldau and Aidan Gallagher, UN Environment Youth Advocate and American actor in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, were also asked to help take the Call and Outcomes to the American people and people around the globe via social media.

Both celebrities are supporting the New American Road Trip—a journey across the United States by electric car from San Francisco to New York where it is planned to hand over the document to leaders at the One Planet Summit, convened by President Macron of France, on Sept. 26 during the annual Climate Week.

‘Youth Step Up’ competition announces winners to drive student climate action and fund solutions

Winners receive $5,000 grand prize and trip to share solutions with world leaders at California’s Global Climate Action Summit

Winners of the Youth Step Up climate competition will share their climate solutions with leaders around the world at the Global Climate Action Summit. The top prizes are awarded to 1) Michael Wong of Oakland, California for his team’s innovative light motion sensor to combat energy waste; 2) Kayla Soren of Louisville, Kentucky for the International Student Environmental Coalition to connect global youth working for climate justice; and 3) Katy Swiere of Orange, Texas for climate-friendly school meals. The three winners earn a cash prize and a trip to present their ideas to world leaders at the Global Climate Action Summit in mid-September.

Global Climate Action Summit 2018

“Youth Step Up is designed to accelerate the transformative work that youth are already doing, and encourage more people to call for solutions,” said Page Atcheson, the Executive Director of Our Climate, who is administering the contest. The competition is built around a climate solution essay in one of five categories: 1) public policy, 2) business plan, 3) urban and land use planning, 4) science and technology, and 5) activism. The contest also includes a creative component, such as handmade art or a video. Creative submissions will be on display during the Global Climate Action Summit.

#YouthStepUp Contest: A call on young people to take climate ambition to the next level

Learn who the winners are and read about their proposals on the contest website

The three winners will be joined in California by a top contestant for each category of the contest 1) Valeree Catangay, Activism; 2) Eliana Marzullo, Business; 3) Ugo Angeletti, Urban Planning ; 4) Tyler White, Public Policy; and 5) Sanjana Paul, Science. Students will participate in a multi-day program to collaborate on climate action, and present their projects at a Global Climate Action Affiliate event. Multiple submissions from the competition will be on display during the Summit.

“It’s time to unlock solutions to climate change. The Youth Step Up Challenge helps energize and motivate the generation most impacted,” said Ken Alex, a Senior Policy Advisor to California Governor Brown and judge for Youth Step Up. Other judges include: Quentin Foster at EDF, Lydia Avila from the Power Shift Network, Bob Inglis from RepublicEN, Jacqui Patterson with NAACP, and Yassamin Ansari with Mission 2020, and Elysa Hammond, VP of Environmental Stewardship, at Clif Bar.

The competition process included outreach to hundreds of universities, community colleges and youth groups to ensure that as many people as possible learn about the opportunity to share their work and engage in the Global Climate Action Summit. Millennials and Generation Z are now the largest voting bloc in America. If no action is taken on climate change, climate impacts are estimated to cost Millennials $8.8 trillion in lifetime income.

Youth Step Up is a climate competition to galvanize youth-driven climate solutions. It is led and managed by Our Climate, The Years Project and is an affiliate event of the Global Climate Action Summit.

UN helps fashion industry shift to low carbon

As the fashion community gathers in New York for the opening of this year’s fashion week, the 2.5 trillion USD industry is experiencing a significant transformation.

Bangkok Climate Change Conference 2018

Timezone:

In order to facilitate the timely completion of the Paris Agreement work programme (PAWP) at the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the UNFCCC, an additional negotiating session will convene between the 48th session of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Bodies (SBs 48) and COP 24.

Freedom to Breathe aims to capture stories of resilience and courage in the United States

Freedom to Breathe is a vehicle to capture stories of resilience and courage in the face of injustices that Americans face today.

Follow the journey

A 5,000 mile cross-country tour beginning in Atlanta and ending at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, the trip comes as movements led by people of color, youth, and women are taking hold across the U.S. Through a series of town halls and community visits, Freedom to Breathe drives toward unity in America’s call for social justice.

Climate Justice is Social Justice

Something is wrong when a five-digit number can accurately predict how long an American will live, how much money they have, and how likely they are to go to college. Zip codes capture this because some communities in America face a disproportionate amount of inequalities. Too often, people of color, the elderly, or indigenous people are saddled with the weight of injustice.

In these communities, one can also see the heart of America’s social movements.

It’s here that issues like climate, housing, mass criminalization, good jobs, and reproductive justice intersect. The threat of sea level rise in Miami is displacing low-income residents as wealthier people retreat from ocean views to higher land. In Louisiana, Black, brown and indigenous communities are more likely to live near fossil fuel power plants, causing a host of health challenges from asthma to cancer. They’re also more likely to live in places without emergency escape plans, like communities at the end of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline who are hung out to dry when storms come.

Freedom to Breathe is driving across nine states over 21 days to highlight the links between climate justice and social justice.

Youth Unstoppable: The Rise of the Global Youth Climate Movement at Green Film Festival

Slater Jewell-Kemker didn’t set out to spend her teenage years making a film meant to inspire others to act on climate change. Slater was just 15 years old when she started questioning her local politicians about their inability to pass laws to protect the environment. Soon she began to connect with other young activists doing their part to save the planet, and she took it upon herself to document their eco-efforts and growing movement on camera.

Traveling around the globe on the front lines of climate change, Slater captures the inspiring voices and fierce tenacity of those too young to vote, to have a say in the direction of the planet they will inherit, and you can feel the passion in every frame. Youth Unstoppable takes everyone on a journey that lets to connect with the activists of the next generation and instills hope to know that the future is in their capable hands.

The Youth Unstoppable screening will happen on Wednesday, September 12, starting at 8 PM, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

[video:https://vimeo.com/268672668]

Born in LA to filmmaker parents, Slater Jewell-Kemker has grown up with a passion for film and the idea she could change the world by making her own media. At 15, Slater began documenting the rise of the global youth climate movement, which has taken her around the world to UN Climate Conferences and communities on the front lines of climate change. The UN, TIFF, Forbes.com’s “Millennials on a MISSION,” Mountainfilm and SilverDocs have recognized Slater for her activist filmmaking and led workshops at schools and film festivals highlighting the power of film and activism. Slater is currently a Resident of the Canadian Film Centre Director’s Lab.