Connect4Climate is launching a special campaign at COP25 to celebrate Young and Future Generations Day. The “We Are Action” green bowtie pin campaign knots creativity, science and action together, symbolizing a strong commitment to take bold and ambitious action towards a livable future.

By presenting green bowtie pins for attendees to wear at COP25, Connect4Climate hopes to inspire a sense of solidarity and unity around accelerated climate action.

The campaign is designed in loving memory of C4C’s Max Thabiso Edkins, known for his stylish bowties and unwavering dedication to the youth climate movement. Each pin comes with a dedication to Max, a true climate champion whose commitment to action inspired everyone he crossed paths with.

Wear the pin and share your bowtie selfie by tagging @Connect4Climate and #WeAreAction. Together we are unstoppable.

Banner photo by Giulia Braga, C4C Team. Pin photo by Kaia Rose, C4C Team.

COP25, this year’s vital UN conference on action against climate change, is now officially underway in Madrid, Spain under the aegis of the Chilean government.

 

In addition to opening avenues for online engagement with the COP through our Digital Media Zone and live social media coverage of our events on agriculture in Africa and youth leadership, we at Connect4Climate are hard at work expanding the reach of our Film4Climate initiative, using the creative arts as a means of catalyzing climate action worldwide.

 

For this year’s COP, given the dual involvement of Spain and Chile, we are making a concerted effort to spread the message of sustainability through film in the Spanish-speaking world.

 

In Chile, this year’s Connect4Climate post-production award will be presented at Conecta 2019, an industry event taking place alongside the COP from December 10 through 13. This award will recognize a Latin American filmmaker who submitted a film that resonates powerfully with one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and will ensure that the post-production on their film will be fully covered by Connect4Climate’s Rome-based partner, LaserFilm. C4C is presenting the award in collaboration with the Chilean Corporation of Documentary.

 

 

Meanwhile, young climate filmmaker Slater Jewell-Kemker is on the ground at the COP site in Madrid, where her groundbreaking documentary of the #Youth4Climate movement, Youth Unstoppable, was screened for a live audience at the Conference of Youth. Jewell-Kemker herself took to the stage to provide some context and commentary for the film, which documents the rise of a unified climate action movement across nations and profiles influential youth leaders such as Sweden’s Greta Thunberg.

 

Also on offer in Spain will be special screenings of climate-positive films from Cinema Planeta’s International Environmental Film Festival of Mexico. Taking place across the Saturdays December 7 and December 14, the COP25 showcase of Cinema Planeta films will “promote environmental protection from different perspectives” and will include such works as Maria Novaro’s Tesoros and Alberto Cortés’s El maíz en tiempos de guerra. Cinema Planeta is also hosting its own series of Youth Unstoppable screenings, beginning with a December 5 showing in Zaragoza and a December 11 showing in Valencia. Further Youth Unstoppable engagements are planned for venues in Madrid, Valladolid and the Canary Islands.

 

In Mexico itself, the message of #Film4Climate will be well represented during the COP at special screenings put on by the organizers of the Guadalajara International Film Festival (FICG), the latest edition of which will be taking place from March 20-27, 2020 with support from the Connect4Climate team.

 

 

All of these assorted Film4Climate events are fitting accompaniments to the launch of the international Creative Industries Pact for Sustainable Action on December 2. The premise of the Pact is that “the creative industries can lead the way” on promoting sustainability “through collaboration on common goals” in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. C4C’s #Film4Climate initiative is a proud supporter of this Pact; in the words of senior C4C adviser Francis Dobbs, “This is needed now more than ever to help those who will inherit the planet build a livable future for themselves.”

 

If you’d like to learn more about C4C’s #Film4Climate initiative and its efforts past, present and future to green the silver screen, be sure to check out this profile (p.4-5) just published in the European Film Academy journal.

 

We need to be effective storytellers if we’re to rally behind meaningful climate action, and film is a medium that allows us to drive home the humanity of the climate crisis and prove to hearts and minds everywhere that the #TimeForAction is now.

 

 

Banner and thumbnail images courtesy of Pixabay. All other photos courtesy of the Connect4Climate team.

Every year, the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) convene to weigh global progress on climate action and set new goals based on what remains to be done. At this year’s conference of the parties, COP25, ramping up ambition will be more important than ever before, as the climate crisis is deepening and projections for the state of the planet in 2100 absent significant worldwide behavior change are dire.

 

Taking place in Madrid from December 2-13 under Chile’s Presidency, COP25 will focus on hammering out the last remaining issues surrounding the implementation of the foundational 2015 Paris Agreement and getting the countries of the world back on track to keep net global warming well below 2°C vis-à-vis pre industrial times (the latest UN report warns that a business-as-usual scenario could at this point result in a catastrophic 3.2°C of warming).

 

Connect4Climate will be in attendance at the COP, supporting events at the Italian Pavilion and amplifying the messages of the conference for a global audience through live-streaming and social media. C4C is especially excited about COP25’s emphasis on youth leadership, which has proven invaluable for raising climate awareness and promoting action all over the world.

 

Want to get involved in COP25 yourself? Here are five tips and tricks on how to stay informed and contribute to the conversation:

 

1. Tune in to the “Live from COP25” Digital Media Zone

 

We at C4C are hosting a special series of live sessions at the Italian Pavilion in which members of our team will conduct exclusive daily interviews with a wide array of climate leaders offering perspectives ranging from economic and political to social and activist.

 

The Zone will be in session from 2:00-3:00 pm Madrid time every day of the conference, and all interviews will be broadcast live on our Facebook page as well as the Italian Ministry of the Environment’s. Follow along live and share your thoughts on all the innovative strategies up for discussion!

 

 

Image courtesy of Kaia Rose, Connect4Climate.

 

2. Participate virtually in our side events

 

In addition to the Digital Media Zone, Connect4Climate is putting on its own exciting side events at the COP, including a session on agricultural innovations in Africa and the sweeping Great Green Wall initiative as well as one on strategies for working alongside youth leadership to expand climate education worldwide.

 

Be sure to follow our coverage of the COP on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to stay abreast of these events and draw inspiration to take climate action yourself! Feel free to contribute your own thoughts on the issues using the hashtags #COP25, #WeAreAction and #TimeForAction.

 

 

Image courtesy of Leigh Vogel, Connect4Climate.

 

3. Check out the UNFCCC website

 

If you’d like to learn more about the COP in general and its role in global climate dialogue, look no further than the UNFCCC’s official website, which offers an overview of the conference, a schedule of events, an aggregation of relevant climate news stories, and more.  You can also tune into the Action Hub webcast for a full program of exciting interactive presentations.

 

 

Image courtesy of the UNFCCC.

 

4. Bone up on Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

 

You’ve probably heard of the Paris Agreement on climate change, but do you know Article 6? In Katowice at last year’s COP, the parties adopted the “Paris Rulebook” but key guidance on how to implement Article 6 was not included so It’s a section of the Agreement that the parties to the UNFCCC attempted unsuccessfully to pin down at last year’s COP, and you can bet that it will be a centerpiece in Madrid this time around.

Article 6 aims to establish a system of voluntary international cooperation to make both implementing and verifying country-specific climate action plans easier. It could also pave the way for more robust climate education programs worldwide and a global standard on carbon pricing, which has the potential to cut industrial emissions significantly over the next several years. Negotiations are delicate, though, and reaching an agreement will be far from simple.

Study up on Article 6 and its significance on sites such as that of the International Chamber of Commerce  and the Environmental Defense Fund or check out this video from the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition.

 

Image courtesy of the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition.

 

5. Follow #Youth4Climate leaders on social media

 

Last but not least, be sure to show your support for the global #Youth4Climate activist movement and keep an eye on youth leaders’ responses to the event of COP25 for a fresh viewpoint.

 

#SchoolStrike4Climate pioneer Greta Thunberg, who is making her way to the conference by boat, has a major presence on both Twitter and Instagram. Consider also following UN Youth Envoy Jayathma Wickramanayake, New York-based activist Alexandria Villaseñor, and Kenyan climate advocate Leah Namugerwa.

 

For additional ideas on youth leaders to look out for, check out this handy who’s who compiled by the BBC!

 

 

Image courtesy of Kaia Rose, Connect4Climate.

 

Article banner courtesy of Pixabay.

Motivating large groups of people to take real action is both one of the most important and one of the most daunting challenges facing the climate advocacy community today. No individual can solve the climate crisis; if we’re to succeed in turning the tide, whole communities around the world will have to embrace messages of sustainability and concretely change their behavior. This is where the power of advertising comes in. In order to bring about widespread behavior change, climate allies will need to be persuasive, concise and compelling—the specialty of trained marketers.

Each year, the British nonprofit Design & Art Direction (D&AD) recognizes outstanding achievement in advertising through competitions. In addition to supporting already-established forces in the industry, D&AD is committed to elevating young voices with its student-focused New Blood Awards. C4C is excited to announce that we are partnering with D&AD for the 2020 edition of the New Blood competition, in which we are inviting students from all around the world to send in their ideas for innovative sustainability-themed advertising campaigns with the end goal of effecting sustained, pervasive climate-positive behavior change.

➡️ DOWNLOAD Connect4Climate's Call-to-Action Brief: http://bit.ly/348bk2r

If you are a student over 18 years of age with no history of formal employment in the creative arts who is passionate about spreading sustainable practices for the welfare of our planet—or if you know such a person!—we encourage you to download our call-to-action brief on the D&AD website. This document lays out exactly what we’re looking for from applicants.

If you’re unsure of your eligibility, D&AD has prepared a quick quiz you can take to determine for sure whether you’re clear to participate.

We at C4C are very much looking forward to seeing what bold new approaches to promoting broad climate action will arise from young minds across the globe. Best of luck!

I attended the UN Youth Climate Change Summit with zero experience in climate science, policy, or activism. Just a film student with an extensive background in film literature and some in communication studies, I nervously entered the UN Trusteeship Council with my DSLR and scattered thoughts about current events. While I did not know everything about the ozone or greenhouse gasses that a scientist or environmentalist would, I’ve always been conscious about climate change. Noticing the fluctuation in weather patterns and reading up on the melting of polar ice caps made me fear what the future might bring. Prior to this summit, I thought climate change was a problem too big to solve. However, this experience taught me otherwise. In fact, it inspired me.

 

For an entire day, I was surrounded by people of all different ages, nationalities, and backgrounds who had come together to tackle one of the biggest issues in our society. Once the first panel started, I was shocked to see how many students, some even younger than me, were engaging in conversations about an issue that many adults in America believe to be a hoax. With students like Greta Thunberg and Bruno Rodriguez discussing the state of our environment with such passion and expertise, I will dispute anyone who tells me today’s youth are “lazy” or “don’t know what they’re talking about.”

 

 

Panel after panel, I was introduced to eye-opening information on how individuals, communities, companies, and others can mitigate the effects of climate change through sustainability-minded projects, products, and practices. These events not only introduced me to a variety of solutions but also taught me how climate change is intersectional—how its impacts permeate through other issues. Finding solutions to climate change is about more than just improving the environment; we need to consider how it affects the economy, how it affects race and social class, how it impacts minority groups and even gender politics.

 

A favorite panel of mine was in the afternoon, titled, “A Race We Must Win: Sprinting Together to 2020.” During this session, a panel of Olympians and other elite athletes banded together to discuss how the effects of climate change directly impact the future of sports, thus connecting the issue to everyday life.

 

The panel opened with marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson stating that climate change affects our workouts and overall health. Across frequent visits to the Gulf of Maine, she had noted rising waters, changes in species, warmer temperatures, and even an increase in the intensity of the sun’s UV rays. While exercising outdoors has its health benefits, Samuelson concluded that “if we want to have a healthy body, we need to have a healthy environment.” The panel continued with further anecdotes from American snowboarder Chloe Kim, Tongan taekwondo practitioner Pita Taufatofua, American sabre fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, American professional skateboarder Eric Koston, and British competitive sailor Hannah Mills. While all the athletes came from different backgrounds and experiences, they unanimously agreed their love for sports motivated them to advocate for the environment. Ibtihaj expressed the connection best by simply saying, “I care about climate change. I know it affects each of us in detrimental ways... and the bottom line is, if there is no planet, there is no sport.”

 

 

I appreciated this panel as the speakers spoke from the perspectives of conscientious everyday people. These athletes might not have an extensive background in the sciences, but their careers (like all careers, honestly) rely on the environment. The personal stories they shared helped me realize that caring for the planet is not a choice. Climate change is an issue that affects us all, no matter what we do or where we live. With this in mind, it is mandatory that we step up as a society and take action from the ground up, starting at the individual level and working our way up to institutions.

 

Besides the thought-provoking speeches and presentations on different aspects of climate change, what truly took me by surprise was the abundance of solutions available to handle this issue. Most of what I hear on climate change is news about its never-ending problems shared via social media. Every time I scroll through Instagram or watch story posts from friends, there are posts designed to raise awareness about various social issues—but that awareness is usually negative. We use social media as a tool to get a problem across to other communities, but how often do we let people know what they can do to fix it? This is what the UN Foundation’s Communications Officer, Chandler Green, discussed in her two minutes in front of the Trusteeship Council. She expressed that, in terms of statistics, we only see solutions in media 13% of the time. This number shocked me, but it also made a lot of sense.

 

 

Given that statistic, I understood why climate change seemed so intimidating and hopeless at first. Furthermore, I understood why many other people believe the world is going to fall apart due to the impacts of climate change—they simply aren’t aware of what can be done. And thus, in my role as a social media contributor for Connect4Climate’s  #YouthTakeover, I realized that social media is more than a tool to get a point across. Why add yet another negative post about the problem to the Instagram feed when you could instead create a photoset illustrating how one can make their daily life more sustainable? As Chandler Green asserted, “nothing can be accomplished without passion.” Anyone can tackle climate change if they have the hope and commitment to act.

 

Fighting against climate change is only an impossible feat if you take it as such. While we cannot undo what has already been done, we can be proactive and move forward with bold new strategies. And with the help of social media, if we give people content and information, they can reciprocate with action. Imagine then the beneficial outcomes we can reap for our environment and our society in the years to come.

 

Banner image courtesy of Jessica Schlimmer. First photo in article courtesy of Maria-Isabelle Parada; remaining two by the Connect4Climate #YouthTakeover team.

As scientists, effective communication is one of the most difficult challenges we face when discussing climate change, global warming, and other complex issues. This is particularly pressing when communicating to those who lack a scientific background or who are unfamiliar with the relevant terminology and scientific methods. During Connect4Climate’s #YouthTakeover at the United Nations (UN) Climate Summit, attendees deconstructed these barriers to tackling the critical issue of climate change. Participants from diverse scientific and non-scientific backgrounds, age groups, and geographic locations discussed their perceptions of climate change and the need for action in a way that everyone could understand.

 

These environmentally conscious changemakers included artists, government officials, filmmakers, fashion industry models, researchers, media specialists, high school and college students, business owners, musicians, journalists, and more. Each group of activists shared their unique perspectives in a digestible format on social media while also preserving the rigor of climate science. These groups of people, who are not typically proficient in quantitative science themselves, molded the principle of climate change into a universal language, and subsequently mobilized their followers into action toward climate change solutions. As a result, people everywhere could remotely access and understand topics such as fast fashion, climate finance, and pollution.

 

 

These climate activists publicized key facts about human-induced impacts on the environment that pertain to their followers’ fields of interests, expressed the urgency to act on climate change, and articulated how to transition to more environmentally conscious practices to abate these human-caused damages. Models from the fashion industry informed their social media followers about science in a way that captured the attention of like-minded individuals. For example, the models explained that many clothing designers do not consider the environment during the manufacturing process, and that the amount of energy and water required to produce those clothes results in adverse unintended consequences for the natural environment. Changemakers of all backgrounds contributed to and echoed this sentiment: musicians performed songs about caring for the environment; artists created masterpieces on the dangers we are currently facing and predicted to face; and CEOs of well-known businesses explained how carbon pricing can positively impact their industries and increase competitiveness. Moreover, youth encouraged other youth to engage in the growing climate movement. 

 

The most effective component of the weekend event was the collaboration among all of these  people, as global citizens, to work towards solving the problems of climate change and to push for concerted action towards achieving the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. When people from a variety of backgrounds join together to work on a specific issue, stronger, more diverse and more achievable solutions emerge than when everyone stays confined to their own discipline. This could be observed at the Youth Policy Jam on Unlocking Climate Finance, where attendees of the Youth Climate Summit were divided into groups of ten to discuss how to procure more funding for youth programs combating climate change. Participants ranging from high school students to established World Bank and government officials provided their input, collaborating to produce a wealth of ideas that the young organizers of the Policy Jam, Youth Climate Lab, presented later that week during the UN General Assembly.

 

 

Another segment of the UN event featured Pollution Pods, an installation created by the artist Michael Pinsky and other urban planners, researchers, and activists. The pods simulated air quality from five different cities around the world: London, New Delhi, Beijing, São Paulo, and Oslo. These simulations included temporal changes in the concentrations of various pollutants from fossil-fuel-burning emissions, namely carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrous oxide, and particulate matter. In some regions, such as New Delhi and Beijing, the pods were very hot, smelly, and hazy. Experiencing the air quality conditions in other cities worldwide was truly eye-opening. It is one thing to learn about pollution in school and universities but another to experience first-hand how these pollutants impact the natural environment and our own bodies. The collaborative effort behind the creation of these pods was remarkable, which made me hopeful that people who come from non-science backgrounds can grasp the weight of human-induced impacts on the environment and that the science community can communicate complex processes in simple and understandable terms to a general audience.  

 

Connecting and working with people from non-technical backgrounds on the issue of global climate change is of utmost importance in our time. Although effective science communication is challenging, and some of its barriers persist, it gave me immense hope to see that creativity and partnerships can get the word out to many individuals who otherwise might disengage from science discussions because of the daunting jargon and nuances. Connect4Climate’s #YouthTakeover proved that effective dialogue is possible and that the steps we have already taken toward breaking down these communication barriers will catalyze climate action for our generation and those yet to come.

 

 

Banner image courtesy of Kaia Rose, Connect4Climate. Other images courtesy of the Connect4Climate #YouthTakeover team.

Next week, the members of the UN General Assembly will gather in New York City for a Climate Action Summit specially convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in light of the severity of the climate crisis as well as the urgent need to implement the commitments of the Paris Agreement and raise global ambition on climate action.

Given the instrumental role youth leaders have played in bringing the crisis to the fore of international discussion, it’s only fitting that the weekend leading into the event will feature a dedicated Youth Summit where pioneering activists like Greta Thunberg will have the chance to talk sustainable strategy with up-and-coming entrepreneurs, student innovators, and policymakers, laying the groundwork for new commitments to be announced at the Climate Summit.

Taking place on Saturday, September 21, this Youth Summit will involve youth climate leaders from almost every country in the world in an “action-oriented, intergenerational, and inclusive” event. The sessions scheduled for the Summit are well-aligned with C4C’s own advocacy priorities, addressing such topics as circularity in fashion (Fashion4Climate) and climate communication in sports (Sport4Climate). The Summit will also highlight young entrepreneurs with a pitch competition, examine “the anatomy of influence” on- and offline, feature a musical performance by Nigerian pop star Waje, and much more.

C4C is providing special support to the Youth Policy Jam happening in the afternoon, which will bring youth leaders together with experts in finance and policy for a dynamic discussion on how to unlock climate finance at a scale commensurate with the climate crisis.  The Policy Jam is designed to develop creative collaborative solutions on how to generate more ambitious and youth-friendly climate finance—solutions which will subsequently be presented as tangible outcomes during the General Assembly.

With the spotlight on youth action, Connect4Climate saw an ideal opportunity to launch a new #YouthTakeover, inviting local students passionate about climate communications to take the helm on C4C’s social media coverage of the Youth Summit and other exciting climate action events happening around New York City during the weekend of September 21-22.  Follow their journeys on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #YouthTakeover. 

The #YouthTakeover initiative has come a long way over the course of the past year, building momentum at climate events in Europe before making big splashes at the 2019 Innovate4Climate conference in Singapore and, most recently, Asia-Pacific Climate Week in Bangkok, Thailand. C4C looks forward to debuting the #YouthTakeover concept in North America and to giving young people the chance to tell the stories of their own climate heroes on the historic occasion of the UN’s Youth Climate Summit.

The human rights nonprofit Amnesty International is well known for its support of humanitarian causes around the globe; its ambitious goals include ensuring the rights of refugees and abolishing the practice of torture. In today’s world, climate change, too, has become a human rights issue, with more and more displaced each year by rising sea levels and increasingly intense natural disasters—a situation with the potential to grow exponentially worse absent swift and decisive action in line with the Paris Agreement of 2015.  As Amnesty International’s Secretary-General Kumi Naidoo said on Monday at George Washington University, “The right to a liveable planet is essentially Article Zero of our basic human rights as a people.”

In recognition of the ongoing climate crisis and the amazing work youth activists around the world have been doing to raise awareness of it and spur concrete action, Amnesty chose to confer this year’s prestigious Ambassador of Conscience Award on School Strike for Climate founder Greta Thunberg and the regional leaders of the international #FridaysForFuture movement that her efforts in Sweden galvanized.

“All around the world, Amnesty is gathering to lift up these inspiring young climate activists who are ringing the alarm bell,” Amnesty USA Executive Director Margaret Huang stated at the awards ceremony Monday evening.

Two other young advocates of climate action, Takota Iron Eyes (16) and Ramona Sarsgaard (12), made it abundantly clear in their speeches why Thunberg and the #FridaysForFuture team were deserving of Amnesty’s highest honor. “At 16, I am worried about what it would look like if I want to have kids,” Iron Eyes candidly told the audience, her frustration at the lack of action on the part of older generations apparent. Sarsgaard echoed this sentiment, saying that “A child should not have to have this responsibility. But in order to make change, we cannot pretend that everything is okay.”

Thunberg has always maintained that it should not be the job of children to fix problems created and subsequently neglected by their parents. Her activism and that of the overarching #FridaysForFuture campaign is grounded in the use of public demonstrations to illustrate the gravity of the situation on the world stage and bring about transformative policy changes in government and industry.

“Right now, I think an awakening is taking place,” Thunberg asserted in her acceptance speech. “Activism works. So what I’m telling you now to do is act. See you on the streets.”

Climate change is just global warming was a huge misconception I had when I stepped before the registration counter of the UN Asia-Pacific Climate Week conference, held in my hometown of Bangkok.

It is safe to say that I was totally clueless about climate change, especially when compared with those in business attire standing next to me. The only thing I knew was that, as youth ambassadors, my four classmates and I would try to learn as much as possible from the event in order to produce content for Connect4Climate's social media accounts.

I followed a stream of people into the conference hall as the plenary session was about to begin. I grabbed my notebook, doubtful there would be anything cool to tweet about. But by the end of the very first session, I had already learned numerous surprising facts.

One sad truth that I learned was that the Asia Pacific region is “the most vulnerable to climate change,” losing more than 675 billion dollars every year to natural disasters exacerbated by the unstable climate. And unfortunately, we are only making matters worse, continuing to emit the harmful greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.

Panelists at the conference took turns proposing possible ways out of this dreadful situation. As I was listening to their refreshing ideas, I could not help but notice that all of them referred back to one key term: Article 6.

Curious, I did my own research, coming to the realization that Article 6 is a part of the Paris Agreement, a mutual agreement among members of the UN to curb the rise of global temperatures. Since the agreement was signed in 2016, Article 6 has been used as a rallying cry to raise ambition and boost international cooperation in the fight against climate change. I think its message aligns well with the motto for this year’s upcoming UN Climate Action Summit, 'a race we can win.' 

Starting to realize the importance of the event in Bangkok, I directed my energy to trying to understand other parts of the complex discussion. What sparked my interest the most was the topic of ‘carbon pricing.’ I was surprised to learn that by simply putting a tax on carbon, we could persuade the industrial sector to take responsibility for their pollution. The government could also use the revenue from those taxes to tackle other national issues such as poverty and food security.

I was also impressed to hear of the progress we’ve made in recent years. Indonesia has become the leading country in meeting decarbonization standards, the Philippines is investing greatly in renewable energy sectors, and Bangladesh and Thailand are developing eco-friendly transportation systems. Every country is putting in an incredible amount of effort to push forward the actual implementation of their targets under the Paris Agreement.

I thought my learning process would end when I left the conference room, but I was wrong; I found that the space outside, which had been empty in the morning, was suddenly filled with exhibition booths of various organizations. Even though they were from different corners of the world, all of their work was dedicated to the mutual goal of identifying the best climate solutions.

You could say I was young at heart when I walked past all the advanced innovative technologies and stopped at a game booth for elementary schoolers. The person at the booth explained to me how effective it was bringing in a simple Snakes and Ladders game to teach kids about climate change. The rules were easy: if you rolled the dice and landed on the square with eco-friendly actions, you would go up the ladder. On the other hand, you would move down the ladder for eco-unfriendly actions.

Of course, I could not resist the invitation to test the game, and I ended up playing for ten full minutes. I was enjoying it so much that I completely forgot that it was 'educational.' Yet, by the end of it, I remembered so clearly what eco-unfriendly actions had jeopardized my position as a winner that I walked out of the booth with a new mindset, committed to not doing any of those things in the future. 

Apart from the fun, educational exhibition booths, there was also an action hub: a stage where ideas were exchanged and creativity was ignited. You did not have to be the greatest entrepreneur or the most renowned activist to be on the stage. It was for everyone.

My four classmates and I were standing before the stage, jaws dropping, as one of young entrepreneurs shared his vision. "I believe everyone has the ability to get out there and do something about climate change." The sparkle of passion in his eyes and the strong determination in his voice made his words sound so promising and far beyond his age.

Getting to meet inspiring people at Asia-Pacific Climate Week, I came to realize that climate change is much more than boring scientific facts we have been taught in school. It is not only about the rise of global temperatures, melting icebergs or ozone depletion, but countries’ economies, people's well-being, and even the vision of our future lifestyle. Everything is connected.

Thus, it is now time to help get the message across that solving climate change is not only the duty of one region, one country, or one government, but every single one of us. When we believe that our voices matter and are committed to doing better, the mission of saving Planet Earth will not be far out of hand. It is a race we can win.

Photos by fellow #YouthTakeover participant Kamolchanok Kieatmontri.

From September 2-6 in Bangkok, Thailand, Asia-Pacific Climate Week (APCW) will bring together climate leaders from around the world to discuss the way forward for the region and the planet at large. Connect4Climate is excited to announce that the conference will mark the latest installment in its #YouthTakeover initiative, providing local students with a chance to communicate new ideas about how to engage and activate young audiences.

Building on the momentum of recent #YouthTakeover events in Singapore and Italy, Connect4Climate will take the opportunity presented by the wide-reaching APCW to hand its Twitter and Instagram channels over to a team of communications and media students from Thailand’s prestigious Mahidol University. As the region’s leading climate experts convene to create clear pathways to the UN Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit in September and COP25 in December, these talented young people will offer their perspectives on what’s happening through original messaging and Instagram stories. September 4 and 5 are the official #YouthTakeover days at APCW, but be on the lookout for surprise youth posts elsewhere in the week as well!

All participants in the takeover will set out to seek answers to a fundamental question: What innovations can help bridge the gap between the solutions currently being implemented on the ground and the further action that must be taken in order for the region to reach its Paris Agreement goals? It will be a challenging task for the young journalists, but undoubtedly they will be up to it.

Connect4Climate is honored to continue the #YouthTakeover program in memory of Max Thabiso Edkins, who always recognized the power of youth to take the helm on climate issues, speak out for their planet, and steer society towards a sustainable future.