Daniel Chávez Ortiz is known as The Ecological Boy in his hometown Ciudad Guzman, Jalisco, in Mexico. Why? Daniel, 11, has been developing environmental campaigns to tackle climate change.

“It all started when I was six years old. My mother received an e-mail with a presentation about how batteries aren’t properly recycled, and that they have been poisoning the water,” Daniel told Connect4Climate. “After I saw that presentation, I started to cry, because I realized how people can harm the planet.”

That email set the ball rolling. Shortly after, Daniel decided he wanted to spread the message and “educate everyone.” More specifically, he wanted to teach people what to do with used batteries.

[video:https://vimeo.com/126840694]

 

His first project took place at his school. Daniel brought a container to his classroom andencouraged his classmates to collect used batteries. “When I realized how well it had gone, I got excited and so I decided to go to other schools to do the same thing,” Daniel said, encouraged by the feedback.

After that, Daniel was invited to appear on a local television show, where he learned about the concept of global warming. At that point, Daniel’s family got involved with his cause and started to help him.

“My mom attended a free course about global warming to help me learn more about this new interest,” he said, “but the course was in English and we didn't speak or write English. We needed to translate the text and had to use a translator. I was able to get more and new information about the topic, which allowed me to share my concerns about this growing problem with others,” he said.

For the next year, Daniel collaborated on an online television program in Mexico called “Futuro Cercano” (which translates into  “Future Close”) where he gained his new nickname “El Guardian del Habitat” (The Guardian of the Habitat) Now, he is involved in a new online project, which will be aired on April 26. In June, he will give a lecture at the Instituto Tecnológico Superior de El Grullo (a public University in El Grulo, Jalisco, Mexico).

“Now, I am 11 years old and I feel like I need to do even more,” said Daniel.

 

Leaders from across government and business are sending a clear message to the world this week that climate change is a risk that cannot be ignored, and, importantly, that they are ready to work together to bring down emissions.

Seventy-three countries and 22 states, provinces and cities – together responsible for 54 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and 52 percent of GDP – joined over 1,000 businesses and investors in signaling their support for carbon pricing through a series of initiatives being announced at the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Leadership Summit on Tuesday.

The list includes countries like China and South Africa that are planning carbon pricing, as well as Russia and countries at high risk from climate change, like the Marshall Islands. It includes business ranging across industry, energy and transportation, and institutional investors with more than $24 trillion in assets.

This is a wake-up moment. Carbon pricing if expanded to this scale and then globally has the potential to bring down emissions in a way that supports clean energy and low-carbon growth while giving businesses the flexibility to innovate and find the most efficient choices. 

“The science is clear. The economics are compelling. We are seeing a shift toward the economic architecture that will be necessary to avoid a 2-degree-warmer world, an architecture that supports green growth, jobs and competitiveness,” said World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change Rachel Kyte.

To move carbon pricing use and understanding forward, the World Bank Group, World Economic Forum, and We Mean Business Coalition announced that they would convene a carbon pricing leadership coalition with business and government leaders.

This is huge - another reminder to urgently act on climate change.

The year 2014 ranks as Earth’s warmest since 1880, according to two separate analyses byNASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. 2014 was 0.69°C (1.24°F) above the 20th century average of 14.1°C, making it the hottest year on record since NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center began taking measurements in 1880.

The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000. This trend continues a long-term warming of the planet, according to an analysis of surface temperature measurements by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) in New York.