Climate Advocates
To make HOT IN HERE (a carbon-neutral dance party), we spoke to young climate advocates from over 30 countries across the globe. In the full version of this play, we will share many more of these stories.
We are so grateful to the incredible people who shared their time with us. Below you can find out about their amazing work for climate justice, taking place around the world, as well as advice they suggested in our conversations as to how to take action in our own lives.
Make sure to follow them on social media, and amplify their work!
Nigeria
Kelo Uchendu
"I think the best way to support the work that we do is to listen. As an activist I believe that we want to be heard. Not just heard we want to be listened to. We want to see that our voices are not just in vain. We want to know that we are being heard. And also if you have the means or the platform, please do amplify our voices."
Mitzi Jonelle Tan
"If you guys become more radical in what you’re demanding, and more concrete, then that can be so powerful, because then they’ll start to think – why do they care so much about what's happening across the world, maybe we have to listen. And that’s a powerful thing – uniting across the globe – raising awareness and showing solidarity with one another – that can change the world literally, that can change the world literally – that’s what we need. We need connection, and friendship and communication and friendship and solidarity – we need solidarity so much. Because we’re tackling this global climate crisis, we need to do this together as a global movement."
“You can also help demanding the ratification and entry into force of the Escazú Agreement here in Latin America. Also you can help to held accountable for those who are major polluters. It’s very disproportional. So you can also demand, you know, big polluters to held accountable… Get to know about the Latin America region, how it's being impacted, and how to help. Because we all have a voice and we can all help in different ways.”
Daze Aghaji
UK
%20(1).jpeg)
"I think the younger generation should be focussing on how we can learn to be together, how we can learn to love each other, and act within duty with one another, and say ‘I am responsible for you and you are responsible for me’ and how we can do that so we can create really strong knit communities so you know societal collapse is something we will never see in our lifetime."
Olivia Wohlgemuth
USA
"Extinction rebellion has a really big presence and I know that, I think Fridays for Future, and some other youth climate organising groups have a really big presence, and something that you can do, is just learn about what other students are doing to organise and to do make demands to stop climate change. And you can learn about those and you can learn about how you can replicate those efforts in your own school community."
Laura Verónica Muñoz
Columbia
"So on a personal level I do believe small actions are vital, but please don’t do it, just because. Do it from a place of awareness, questioning your beliefs, who you are, your desires, where you live. Because doing that we are tackling the root of the problem which is capitalism, racism, classism and all those paradigms that were imposed by the Western culture and are the principal cause of the climate change- of the climate crisis."
Irene Broadley-Westerduin
UK
"The biggest thing of sustainability and environmental issues is having a house that's not leaking, and having always lived in a very old house that did leak, you know, me, you know, like we, the amount of air that came in, through the floorboards and through the old Windows, well however you tried, you meant that any heat that you were putting again, would be going out. And so, the home that we're building, the caber house is, is very much that, it's not like that you put the heat on to get it hot, you, it's a constant airflow system."
Anya Sastry
USA
"One of the things that I tried to work on in my personal life is my relationship with clothing. It's very, very easy nowadays to just buy clothing from companies who engage in fast fashion, and who engage in unethical labour and policies, it's very easy to start consuming a lot. And consuming at a rapid rate. So I think in terms of my relationship with clothing, I try to be more ethical, I try to buy from second-hand shops, or buy used clothing and so that I'm keeping the life-cycle of a piece of clothing longer, and not just purchasing clothing in this constant fast turn-out rate. So that's what I try and do in my personal life."
Kate Yeo
Singapore
"Well the basics for me are things like bringing my own container and utensils around so I don’t have to use single use plastic, I follow a plant based diet, I walk or take public transport as much as possible and generally I’m just very mindful about my consumption, so I don’t buy things I don’t need, for example, new clothes. And I think these are all just - I call it the basics, because I feel like if everyone could start doing this then we would get a lot closer to where we have to be. On a larger scale as part of my BYO Bottles Singapore Initiative - I work with chain-stores in Singapore to try and reduce the wastage of plastic. I also use social media to raise awareness about environmental issues and my NGO Re-Earth Initiative is also in the midst of planning our campaign this year on social justice and fast fashion. I think we really hope to spotlight indigenous groups and grassroot organisations on the frontlines of the climate crisis because these are all very important voices, we all need to listen to them."
Isao Sakai
Japan
"To people who deny climate change, I would say, climate change is a fact and not a belief system. It is agreed by the scientific community by consensus. We cannot squander our time discussing about whether it is true or not, it is already happening and we need to act right now - or we will face, not only climate cha-catastrophe, but also economic and cultural catastrophe that impaires even the world peace, and our well-beings. And that is the reason why we have to act, even though the crisis is so severe, that you might want to deny."
Belyndar Rikimani
Soloman Islands
"We use all our social media platforms to make a widespread awareness of climate change to many people, so we have Instagram, we use twitter, we use facebook and we also have a website when we have a website where we share our stories through this medium and it has been really helpful in how we do our advocacy on climate change and also how we protest on this rising issue on climate change."
Marina Melandis
Canada
"So, my biggest advice would be to figure out what you love and what you're good at. And - and find your people. And find the people that are doing the work in your community, I guarantee there are people doing the work in your community, in your neighbourhood. But if you're having trouble finding those people, well- you can start- you can start that group yourself, or the more global networks. You can join youth organisations that are global, like the one that I work with, Youth4Nature, or others. Use your skills that you have, whether you're an artist, or you're a policy-geek, or you're really good at numbers and math, or you're a computer engineer, or software engineer, and you can write code and design websites, or a graphic designer, or a great speaker, or a writer, like no matter what it is. Figure- like whatever you're good at and whatever you love, like those things are needed in this movement."
"We need to change climate policy in every country. I think our fight is not about inspiration, our fight is about changing this situation because if we don’t there is no future for us, so we fighting for our future and it’s - I think it’s not about inspiration it’s about saving our future. And - the inspiring thing is that maybe activism is working even in countries like Russia, even though we’re not a big movement in Russia"
Oladosu Adenike
Nigeria
"As an eco-feminist - I believe that climate change affects us the most, as women, as girls. We need ecofeminism approach for this crisis, putting women at the centre of our solutions is going to create more spaces for solutions such as advocating for the restoration of Lake Chad"
Bruno Rodríguez
Argentina
"We have to talk about the systems of privileges that people in the global north have. And the unfair economic and social structures in which we are immersed in the global south, particularly in Latin America as well. So the people of the global north needs to pay attention to the experiences of struggle that are being developing in our country and elsewhere in the region because by doing that we can create very strong bridges. International solidarity bridges within our generation from our region and from Europe, from the United states, from Canada, from the Global North. That’s what I think people can do outside of Argentina for our activists."
Lina Yassin
Sudan
"So what I do is I take that complex climate information, and I try to make it as simple as possible and explain to people how it’s related to their daily lives. So if my audience is for example, farmers, I’m going to explain to them how climate impacts agriculture, and why we need to pressure the government- pressure the governments to do better, and why we need to do more climate action, and why we need to have better climate policies. And this is how basically, I convince people, you can only convince people when you show them how this issue is going to impact them somehow and this is how you get them involved in my opinion. "
John Paul Jose
India
"The way in which they [indigenous communities] live, have shown how nature can be the foundation in which we live. So, even if we move to cities, we are still dependent on nature. Cities can be a place where some other things can be concentrated. But we can’t have all the areas in the cities. We need places for nature around us. When I moved to the cities, I was longing for the nature which I was living in. See if I was living in a city, I would be going in that direction. The city, then my job, then family life - the conventional way of life. Then eliminate one point of time in a natural area, then moving to cities. That was something which gave me the idea that, and more frustration about how the world is changing, how the natural world is bleeding. It’s more about our mindset and how the system is training us to live in this world. "
Kaossara Sani
Togo
"I’m raising awareness about climate change on social media about how we are affected here in Africa, especially in my country, and I’m er- also working here in my country to educate students in schools, and especially children. I want people to realise what’s really happening with the climate. That we have pollution not because God is angry with us, the climate change is not a religious fact, but it’s um- more related to human being activities. And how we as human beings, we are affecting directly and indirectly the climate. I want people to realise that they need to raise their voices, especially here in Africa, in the matter of climate justice, because we are the most affected."
Ashfred Norris
Dominica
"I think the main point to realize is that climate change doesn't necessarily just affect the environment but climate change has a rippling effect on everything - whether it's the economy, whether its politics, whether its laws, whether its legislature - climate change has an effect on everything - and the sooner that we realize this, the sooner we accept this, the, I can only hope, the faster and more urgent we will see the needs to act now and act, fast. "
"My advice for everyone out there for everyone who is passionate and who is concerned about climate change is to use your voice. Your voice is a strong weapon so speak up, and most of all - work as a team because together were stronger, and together we will achieve our goals."
Lisa Banda
Malawi
"’I've been involved in raising awareness through going out to the communities, even going out to schools to raise awareness about the climate crisis where have had talks with them, and even using media houses, where we’ve been involved in doing radio programmes about climate crisis, so I’ve been doing that and raising awareness about that and given also. We have also been raising awareness about this on the various issues that come with the climate crisis through social media. We have been inviting different experts to talk to us about this to us as young people and even other people that are involved in this."
Kevin Mtai
Kenya
"So I think what I can say is maybe if they can support Kenya Environmental Activist Network, I’ll appreciate so yeah, I’ll appreciate so much - because we need, like, amplification on social media and also in financial way if they can donate, I think, because this year we want to do a lot of activity"
Howey Ou
China
"So I think we must unite and spread the message as hard as we can, especially the countries like in Germany and the UK, because they have more privilege in the substantial way, and also in the political way, of expressing their opinions. So I think people here must do more to tackle climate change. Whoever we are and wherever we're at, we must unite behind the science and have that sense of urgency to do actions everyday."
El Gibbs
Wiradjuri Land
"I’m also really hoping that we see a lot more affordable, accessible, climate-proof housing, because that’s so essential to the well-being of our communities. I want to see lots of jobs for those who want them in the transition we need to make, and most of all - I’m hoping that the future is full of disabled people and our amazing problem solving skills, um- showing the rest of the community how to change. "
%20(1).jpeg)
"What I do is a lot about education or how a disability justice intersects with the climate crisis, be that natural disasters, whether it be institutiobnalization, whether it be ableism, or things like the plastic straw stuff, that seemed to - a bunch of people thought that was environmentalism and that was climate justice, but that is the furthest from the truth because some people - like disabled people need plastic straws. I do a lot more education than protesting in the way. But in a way - education is protesting because it can motivate people to get out there. And it can also like - make people aware of the social inequities and it’s protesting against the capitalist, ableist education that we get."
So I've drastically reduced my meat based diet. It was initially very hard, but over time, I actually enjoyed eating healthier, vegetarian vegan options, it was better for my own well being. I think activism can come in different ways and I think people misunderstand this, they think it just means you have to go on the streets all the time, or protest. But you don't have to do that, if that's not for you, you have to find what you think is the best way to contribute to this. So for me, that was one major way, another way is actually talking about it and raising awareness of these issues. Because I don't think a lot of my social media following actually were aware of these things until, especially from a more global Sri Lankan perspective, so that was, I think, very important. And also supporting climate organisations and, you know, finding ways in which you can, you know, lift each other. And I hope, like, in the long term, I want to do more in terms of writing pieces, and doing stuff creatively that can address the climate crisis as well.