Donate NowAcross the globe, many young adults and children worry about the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change. They fear that by the time they are middle-aged, the world will be a much warmer, stormier and more uncertain place than it is today. A new international youth climate movement is organizing a fight against climate change, leading global demonstrations and pressuring world leaders to take action. That movement came head to head with politicians in December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference. There, teams of international negotiators attempted to agree on a global climate treaty. Meanwhile, thousands of youth participated in boisterous demonstrations inside the conference center and on the city streets. In Copenhagen, reporter Sara Peach followed members of the International Youth Delegation as they pressured negotiators to reach a strong climate agreement. She also talked with dozens of young people about their anxieties and hopes for Earth's future.
Activists Beaten by Police after March from Bella Center
Youth activists were beaten by police this morning in Copenhagen after they marched out of the Bella Center, shouting "Reclaim power!" and "Climate justice now!"
During the second week of the COP15 talks in Copenhagen, the number of activists allowed to attend the talks has been drastically reduced. By Friday, when President Obama arrives, the number of nongovernmental "observers," the UN group to which most of the activists belong, will be reduced to just 90.
Activists Beaten by Police After March from Bella Center
Youth activists were beaten by police this morning in Copenhagen after they marched out of the Bella Center, shouting "Reclaim power!" and "Climate justice now!"
During the second week of the COP15 talks in Copenhagen, the number of activists allowed to attend the talks has been drastically reduced. By Friday, when President Obama arrives, the number of nongovernmental "observers," the UN group to which most of the activists belong, will be reduced to just 90.
Postcard from Saturday's Mass Climate Demonstration
Saturday's mass march to the Bella Center, where climate talks are ongoing, was boisterous and colorful, but largely peaceful.
I expect that the tone of the demonstrations will shift in the next week as climate activists make a last-ditch push for a strong treaty. Climate Justice Action, an anti-corporate network, is calling on activists to disrupt the negotiations at the Bella Center next Wednesday and to transform it into an assembly open to all:
Inside the Youth Movement at Copenhagen
An American activists talks about youth engagement at the Copenhagen climate talks in Denmark.