How do I become a youth activist? Two lessons learned and five ways to get started!
Two former Youth Environmental Activists have come back to join the Climate Generation Team. We took some time to ask them what lessons they learned as youth organizers and how others can get started.
How did you become a youth activist?
I was always passionate about environmental and food systems at school, and I started looking for groups to get involved with – that’s when I found YEA! (Youth Environmental Activists). Being in the YEA program changed the trajectory of my life – it showed me how to organize.
What did you learn?
Walking into my first YEA! meeting, I thought maybe I’d learn something new about climate change. By then, I had learned some things about climate change but didn’t understand climate justice. I came to the program with some understanding of food systems and was interested in joining a community of youth.
I remember being asked by another student, “What is it that you want to do in your community?” At that moment, I realized I’d never asked myself how and why I wanted to make a difference. I had never been asked what I wanted.
I want to build a world where young people are believed in and respected and where we embody the world we want to live in now. I want to live in a world where we can gain power for the many and enact justice.
I left that first YEA! meeting with a new sense of what could be. As I continued working with a group of students and organizing others, it led me to see myself as a leader. YEA! taught me how to organize my peers and neighbors. I learned what it meant to understand institutions and map power.
By the time I graduated from high school and the YEA! program, I understood my climate story and how I wanted to enact change in the world. Working in a group to organize is so powerful, and that was a big lesson learned for me.
Throughout my three years as a part of YEA! and Climate Generation, I gained a holistic climate justice education, and I began to take action and organize around the racist HERC trash burner. The same HERC trash burner we are still resisting today, almost ten years later. YEA! drove me to study political science so I understood political institutions and power more deeply.
A story is a powerful thing. My career path has led me to craft narratives to elevate the causes of nonprofit organizations, and now I’ve come full circle to advance the work of Climate Generation. When people understand the “personal” in a policy through a story – it builds trust, connection, engagement, and ultimately action. Climate Generation uplifts and inspires conversation through storytelling and organizing about what the climate movement needs right now – in our local community here in the Twin Cities in the YEA! program or on a global scale at COP.
Climate Generation puts so much into the youth, educators and community it serves. I can’t wait to start a new chapter of my story with you, Climate Generation!
How did you become a youth activist?
When I first learned about the concept of climate change, it was through the lens of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis. In 2018, there was a significant push to establish gardens in my neighborhood because Cedar residents wanted access to more fresh food and produce. Witnessing this immediate need, I wanted to help, but with limited resources and tools, and lacking in-depth knowledge, it felt like I couldn’t assist the people who mattered most to me.
It was during a visit to the lunchroom by the YEA! Coordinator that I was encouraged to attend a Wednesday meeting of YEA! to learn more about their work and how I could get involved in the climate movement.
Hearing those words for the first time, “How I could get involved,” made me feel empowered for the first time like I was able to be part of the larger solution to help my communities and others around me.
Climate justice is not just about saving the world; it encompasses the intersecting values of why we do this work and why young people have powerful and brilliant ideas to bring to the table, not just in presence alone but through action as well.
As the years went on, with my learning and involvement through YEA!, I became part of a larger coalition of students called “MN Youth Climate Strike,” where we organized a student-wide walkout demanding divestments from fossil fuel companies.
What did you learn?
The moment students left their classrooms to march to the capital to be heard and seen made me realize the sense of community, visibility, and being heard.
That’s when I recognized the importance of YEA! because that coordinator asked me one question, and now my life is forever changed.
Now, I am a Youth Coordinator for Climate Generation, and I am dedicated to this work because I believe that the climate movement will be an ongoing, ever-intersectional fight. I aim to disseminate knowledge about the climate crisis and what I’ve learned to educate and support communities, placing care and intention at the center.
Here are some ways you can start taking action as a youth activist:
- Talk to your peers:
- Start by talking to your peers about it! A great way to get involved is to info share with you friends, peers and family members
- Start an ECO club at your school:
- One of the first way you can get involved is by working with other students around your school on the eco-systems at your school (Are they using a recycling system? How can you make that system better?)
- Join a group of other youth activists in your area
- A great way to build power and organize is connecting with people who are already doing the work. Check at your school or at local organizations if they have youth committees or programs specifically working on organizing and local and state level policy, like YEA!
- Research!
- There will always be grassroot level groups and organizations doing a lot of the same actions you are wanting to do. Try and find ways to get involved like canvassing or attending meetings.
- Talk to your lawmakers:
- An easy was to get involved is to find out who represents you in your district and advocating to them things happening in your community
Becoming climate activists changed both of our lives, and you can take action too! Interested in learning more about how youth-led community organizing works? Check out our YEA page!
The post How do I become a youth activist? appeared first on Climate Generation.
Some things are too precious to risk. And Scott Reef is one of them.
Today, we’re launching a bold new campaign starring iconic Australian actor Michael Caton and a green sea turtle named Sandy to rally Australians behind one simple message: Flip off Woodside to save Scott Reef.
Off the coast of Western Australia, Scott Reef is one of Australia’s most extraordinary marine environments. It is home to vulnerable green sea turtles, endangered pygmy blue whales and thousands of other marine species.
Each year, one thousand endangered green sea turtles return to Scott Reef to nest. It’s where they lay their eggs. It’s where baby turtles hatch. It’s where they make their first brave dash from the sand to the ocean. It’s their home.
But this remarkable ecosystem is under threat from Woodside’s plans to drill for gas, with up to 57 toxic wells proposed around the reef.
Turtles can’t speak up for their home, so we’re asking Australians to make their voices heard instead.
From one Aussie icon to another
At the heart of our new campaign is an iconic Australian voice, Michael Caton. Caton is using his voice to speak out for, what will soon be, another Australian icon – Scott Reef.
In a cinematic courtroom showdown, Caton lends his unmistakable voice to one of Scott Reef’s most vulnerable inhabitants: a green sea turtle fighting to protect her home from corporate destruction.
As Sandy the turtle defiantly flips her flippers at Woodside, Caton delivers a message that every Australian can get behind.
“Some things are too precious to risk.”
Because when it comes to protecting our natural environment, sometimes being polite just isn’t enough.
Turning a gesture into a movement
We’ve launching a campaign designed to do more than grab attention. We want to turn public concern into meaningful action.
The idea is simple: flip off Woodside and make sure our political leaders know exactly where Australians stand.
We’re calling on people across the country to share the campaign, get involved on social media and, most importantly, tag their local MPs.
We need Environment Minister Murray Watt and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to hear loud and clear that Australians want Scott Reef protected, not sacrificed for another gas project.
China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by 3.1% in the third quarter of 2026, as the Hormuz crisis continued to hit oil demand and coal use also dropped.
This guest post is by:
Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air
This was the largest quarterly reduction since the 2022 Covid lockdowns and means that China’s CO2 emissions have now fallen by an estimated 0.5% in the year to date.
The new analysis for Carbon Brief, based on official figures and commercial data, shows that coal use fell by 3% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2026, while oil was down 4%.
The main drivers were a fall in power-sector coal consumption, a continued sharp reduction in transport oil consumption and slowing growth in the coal-to-chemical industry.
The sharp decline in China’s CO2 emissions extends a “flat or falling” trend that began in March 2024 and has now lasted more than two years, as shown in the figure below.
The outlook for China’s CO2 emissions depends on the balance between rising energy demand, clean-energy growth and the government response to a GDP slowdown.
Decline drivers
Key drivers of the fall in CO2 in the third quarter of 2026 included a 3.3% drop in coal-power generation, after demand growth slowed and the amount of “wasted” wind and solar fell.
Power generation from solar, wind and nuclear increased by 110 terawatt hours (TWh) year-on-year, more than twice as much as the growth in total electricity demand. This added clean-power generation equal to Germany’s total power output in the same time period.
The fall in coal-power output and CO2 emissions came despite the fact that China continues to build new coal-power capacity at near-record rates. This means that average running hours for coal plants are falling even faster than total generation, eroding their profits.
Meanwhile, transport oil consumption continued to fall sharply, down 9% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2026. Electric vehicles (EVs) continued to gain market share, hitting a record 67% of passenger car sales and 50% of heavy trucks in September.
The amount of electricity used by EVs grew by 53%, much faster than the number of EVs on the road, showing increased usage of the existing fleet in preference to fuelled vehicles.
Elsewhere, growth in the coal-to-chemical industry continued to slow down in the third quarter of 2026. The sector has been a key source of emissions growth, but high coal prices have weakened profitability and higher output prices hurt downstream demand.
Finally, CO2 emissions from cement and steel production continued to fall in the third quarter, as the contraction in construction volumes accelerated.
Outlook for emissions
Energy consumption growth has been falling after a period of exceptionally high growth during Covid, while clean-power growth has been robust.
This makes it likely that the growth in clean-power generation will exceed total energy demand growth this year, maintaining the structural fall in fossil-fuel use.
Looking ahead, this balance also relies on progress in removing barriers to new solar and wind power being added to the grid, which result in some clean electricity being “wasted”.
The recent slowdown in energy demand growth is partly – but not fully – explained by exceptionally mild weather in the third quarter.
Another key factor is weaker GDP growth. Since reported GDP growth remains within target, however, there is reduced pressure for further stimulus policies.
The focus of the economic stimulus announced to date is “six networks”, which includes the power grid and the transportation network.
These networks are highly relevant for energy and emissions – and they are already covered by policies that emphasise “green” and zero-carbon solutions.
The post Analysis: China’s quarterly CO2 falls 3% in largest drop since Covid appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Analysis: China’s quarterly CO2 falls 3% in largest drop since Covid
Climate Change
Coles, Woolworths grilled as beef buyers receive fail grade on new deforestation scorecard
MELBOURNE, Friday 6 November 2026 — As Coles holds its Annual General Meeting today, Greenpeace Australia Pacific has branded the major supermarkets with a fail grade on their commitment to source deforestation-free beef, with an updated scorecard revealing none of the major beef buyers are following through on forest sustainability commitments.
It comes after Woolworths’s AGM last week where the board copped a grilling by environmentalists and shareholders over its failed sustainability commitments. Both Coles and Woolworths committed to eliminating deforestation in their supply chains by the end of 2025, but a year past the deadline, neither company could guarantee that their beef was not sourced from deforested pastures.
From outside the Coles AGM, Adele Chasson, Nature Policy Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
“This is a report card Coles and Woolworths should be ashamed to take home. While all major beef buyers had promised to take deforestation off the shelves, none of them followed through. Shareholders and the public demanded answers from Woolworths last week and from Coles today, and we will continue to hold their feet to the fire on their promises.
“Beef is the leading cause of deforestation in Australia, and Coles and Woolworths keep putting off action while koalas continue losing their homes. Aussies must be able to get their groceries without having to worry if their dinner is contributing to the bulldozing of forests or driving extinction of iconic Australian animals.
“Without strong, rapid implementation plans, these companies continue with business as usual, flying in the face of Australia’s deforestation crisis. Big beef buyers like Coles and Woolworths must stop the bulldozers now, make good on their sustainability promises and play their part in stopping Australian forest destruction.”
The scorecard assesses how eight of Australia’s largest beef buyers stack up against a conversion and deforestation-free target. It charts whether the major supermarkets, Aldi, McDonalds, Hungry Jacks, Teys, Metcash/IGA and JBS are taking proper action to end Australia’s deforestation crisis. They all failed.
-ENDS-
Media contact: Kimberley Bernard on 0407 581 404 or kbernard@greenpeace.org
Coles, Woolworths grilled as beef buyers receive fail grade on new deforestation scorecard
