The time of scientists warning us about the impending climate crisis has come to an end. We are now in the phase where we see a continual rise in the drastic effects that climate change has brought upon us, from endless forest fires to rising ocean levels. This means that now is a time where future warnings are meaningless. Instead, action must be taken to save what remains of the environment.
Despite the obvious signs of further climate change to come, governments and corporations worldwide are not taking necessary action to stifle this environmental emergency. As a result, new social groups worldwide are forming to demand change and highlight the issues being swept under the rug. Unfortunately, not many are aware of these groups. So let’s dive into three of the most significant names in the game in 2022.
Sunrise Movement
The Sunrise Movement was formed by Varshini Prakash in April 2017. Before she became involved with the movement, Prakash started her environmental work at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst where she lead the fossil fuel divestment campaign on campus. The campaign succeeded, and the University became one of the first major institutions to adopt this policy.
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Shortly after, Prakash and other members founded the Sunrise Movement to turn the US towards a sustainable economy while creating millions of “green” jobs. The intention was to create a youth movement led by and targeted towards the younger demographic motivated to raise climate change awareness.
The group operates within the United States and attempts to elicit change by campaigning for renewable resources through organized protests and demonstrations. In addition, the group endorses and supports electoral candidates who promise to divert to renewable sources.
The group is a significant supporter of the Green New Deal and identifies with the Democratic party, supporting Bernie Sanders and later Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
You can learn more about the Sunrise Movement and how to get involved or donate here: https://www.sunrisemovement.org/
Fridays for Future
The Fridays for Future movement (also known as School Strike for Climate) began in 2018 with Swedish student Greta Thunberg skipping Friday classes to protest in front of the Swedish parliament, demanding that the government address the ongoing climate crisis. The high school student’s protest garnered the attention of fellow classmates and eventually international media.
Writing for Greenly, Phillip Shabecoff said that “Thanks in large part to Greta Thunberg and her allies, the anti-climate change activism has now become a mass social movement among the world’s youth. [Greta} founded a tactic called “Fridays for the Future” which holds rallies by young people to raise awareness of the climate threat and demand action by governments and corporations to and roll back carbon pollution.”
The movement is named after the Twitter hashtag that was used for the demonstration. Fridays for Future soon became adopted internationally as students all over the world joined the movement and supported Thunberg’s efforts.
Fridays for Future advocates for institutions to reach sustainability goals, like those set out in the 2015 Paris climate agreements. The movement does not affiliate itself with any political party or take part in any commercial interests, but rather focuses on the main goals at large.
Founder Greta Thunberg gained immense popularity in the following years as she travelled the world (as sustainably as possible) to speak at major institutions. This most famously occurred when she took a sailboat to travel to New York City over a two week journey to speak at the UN Climate Summit in 2019.
The movement has spread worldwide where members pressure their respective governments to take action against the climate crisis similar to the methods of that of the Sunrise Movement.
You can learn more about Fridays for Future and how to get involved or donate here: https://fridaysforfuture.org/
The Extinction Rebellion (XR)
The Extinction Rebellion was established in May 2018 in the United Kingdom in response to the impending climate crisis and a lack of action being taken by national governments. The group is named after the 6th mass extinction, the Anthropocene extinction, an ongoing event whose primary cause is human activity. Since its creation, the Extinction Rebellion has carried out hundreds of public demonstrations and protests.
The group is often stylized into the abbreviation “XR.” Though the Extinction Rebellion began in the United Kingdom, it has since branched out internationally and into various affiliated groups. New wings formed in the last few years include “Youth XR”, the youth wing of XR made up of members under the age of 30 which is similar to the Sunrise Movement in the US, and “Doctors for XR”, a group of health professionals based in the UK and Switzerland who are focused on raising awareness of the negative health effects of climate change on humans.
The group demands significant societal change which they see as the only way to curb the ongoing climate crisis. The group advocates for a radical shift towards methods and attitudes focused on saving the environment. But, most importantly, the change must be reflected in our government and institutions rather than just individuals.
To force governments and politicians to enact change, the group organizes mass protests, which block government buildings, roads, and other infrastructure. Extinction Rebellion is notorious for taking more drastic measures in their protests, typically leading to arrests and imprisonment which are a significant part of their tactics by increasing publicity and showing commitment.
According to the XR’s principles, they claim that this tactic is supported by previous societal movements which resulted in success mainly due to a high number of arrests. These eventually lead to stronger momentum by governments and politicians who simply couldn’t ignore the literal fight happening outside their doors.
The group has gathered support from European Parliament green party members, NASA Scientists, and many other notable individuals. You can learn more about the Extinction Rebellion and how to get involved or donate here: https://rebellion.global/
Author Bio.-
Sergiy Slipchenko is a journalist, researcher, and writer from Toronto, Canada. He is a contributor to greenly.co
