President
Biden has a choice to make: Will he side with the people or a handful of
fossil fuel executives? It’s a test with results that will determine the
future of our planet and the wellbeing of future generations that will
inhabit it. We are putting our bodies on the
line to ensure
President Biden passes this crucial test.
As we face the worsening climate emergency, frontline communities have
been fighting the fossil fuel projects which threaten their health and
homes for generations. While our government has largely ignored their
demands, climate chaos has intensified across the globe. The Glasgow UN
climate summit in November is the “last, best chance” for our government
to change course and ensure a just, renewable energy future for all of
us.
This is not a single “day of action”, but instead a wave of action from
October 11th – 15th that will involve civil disobedience to put
sustained pressure and a bigger spotlight on our demands. If that
involves risking arrest, we are prepared and willing to take that risk
and deal with the consequences. We believe that the risks of inaction
are far greater than the risks of taking action.
All components of the actions — trainings the night before and the start
of the actions themselves — will be at McPherson Square in downtown DC.
The McPherson Square Metro station is on the orange, blue, and silver
lines; Farragut North (red line) is also very close by.
President
Biden has a choice to make: Will he side with the people or a handful of
fossil fuel executives? It’s a test with results that will determine the
future of our planet and the wellbeing of future generations that will
inhabit it. We are putting our bodies on the
line to ensure
President Biden passes this crucial test.
As we face the worsening climate emergency, frontline communities have
been fighting the fossil fuel projects which threaten their health and
homes for generations. While our government has largely ignored their
demands, climate chaos has intensified across the globe. The Glasgow UN
climate summit in November is the “last, best chance” for our government
to change course and ensure a just, renewable energy future for all of
us.
This is not a single “day of action”, but instead a wave of action from
October 11th – 15th that will involve civil disobedience to put
sustained pressure and a bigger spotlight on our demands. If that
involves risking arrest, we are prepared and willing to take that risk
and deal with the consequences. We believe that the risks of inaction
are far greater than the risks of taking action.
All components of the actions — trainings the night before and the start
of the actions themselves — will be at McPherson Square in downtown DC.
The McPherson Square Metro station is on the orange, blue, and silver
lines; Farragut North (red line) is also very close by.
President
Biden has a choice to make: Will he side with the people or a handful of
fossil fuel executives? It’s a test with results that will determine the
future of our planet and the wellbeing of future generations that will
inhabit it. We are putting our bodies on the
line to ensure
President Biden passes this crucial test.
As we face the worsening climate emergency, frontline communities have
been fighting the fossil fuel projects which threaten their health and
homes for generations. While our government has largely ignored their
demands, climate chaos has intensified across the globe. The Glasgow UN
climate summit in November is the “last, best chance” for our government
to change course and ensure a just, renewable energy future for all of
us.
This is not a single “day of action”, but instead a wave of action from
October 11th – 15th that will involve civil disobedience to put
sustained pressure and a bigger spotlight on our demands. If that
involves risking arrest, we are prepared and willing to take that risk
and deal with the consequences. We believe that the risks of inaction
are far greater than the risks of taking action.
All components of the actions — trainings the night before and the start
of the actions themselves — will be at McPherson Square in downtown DC.
The McPherson Square Metro station is on the orange, blue, and silver
lines; Farragut North (red line) is also very close by.
President
Biden has a choice to make: Will he side with the people or a handful of
fossil fuel executives? It’s a test with results that will determine the
future of our planet and the wellbeing of future generations that will
inhabit it. We are putting our bodies on the
line to ensure
President Biden passes this crucial test.
As we face the worsening climate emergency, frontline communities have
been fighting the fossil fuel projects which threaten their health and
homes for generations. While our government has largely ignored their
demands, climate chaos has intensified across the globe. The Glasgow UN
climate summit in November is the “last, best chance” for our government
to change course and ensure a just, renewable energy future for all of
us.
This is not a single “day of action”, but instead a wave of action from
October 11th – 15th that will involve civil disobedience to put
sustained pressure and a bigger spotlight on our demands. If that
involves risking arrest, we are prepared and willing to take that risk
and deal with the consequences. We believe that the risks of inaction
are far greater than the risks of taking action.
All components of the actions — trainings the night before and the start
of the actions themselves — will be at McPherson Square in downtown DC.
The McPherson Square Metro station is on the orange, blue, and silver
lines; Farragut North (red line) is also very close by.
President
Biden has a choice to make: Will he side with the people or a handful of
fossil fuel executives? It’s a test with results that will determine the
future of our planet and the wellbeing of future generations that will
inhabit it. We are putting our bodies on the
line to ensure
President Biden passes this crucial test.
As we face the worsening climate emergency, frontline communities have
been fighting the fossil fuel projects which threaten their health and
homes for generations. While our government has largely ignored their
demands, climate chaos has intensified across the globe. The Glasgow UN
climate summit in November is the “last, best chance” for our government
to change course and ensure a just, renewable energy future for all of
us.
This is not a single “day of action”, but instead a wave of action from
October 11th – 15th that will involve civil disobedience to put
sustained pressure and a bigger spotlight on our demands. If that
involves risking arrest, we are prepared and willing to take that risk
and deal with the consequences. We believe that the risks of inaction
are far greater than the risks of taking action.
All components of the actions — trainings the night before and the start
of the actions themselves — will be at McPherson Square in downtown DC.
The McPherson Square Metro station is on the orange, blue, and silver
lines; Farragut North (red line) is also very close by.
Earth Uprising’s summit “Youth Speaks: Our Message to World Leaders on
Earth Day
2021” will
be divided into an opening and closing session, and six short sessions
that are based around specific issues. These sessions will inform
updates to the opening demands, which will then be presented to
President Biden’s World Leaders Summit.
Session 1: Opening
Moderator: Lucia Urreta
Speakers: Greta Thunberg, Licypriya Kangujam, Vanessa Nakate, and Xiye
Bastida.
The speakers will open the summit with short speeches.
Session 2: Freedom to Peaceful Protest and Protect Democracy
Moderator: Maria Juliana Duque
Speakers: Arshak Makichan, Mitzi Jonelle, Khadija Khokhar, and Sonya
Epifantseva
The past year has seen many infringements on global youths’ right to
organize, peacefully assemble, and protest. This session of “Youth
Speaks” asks what kind of action we want from our world leaders to
protect our right to protest, our democracies, and address the
disproportionate effect on people of color.
Session 3: Climate Education and Climate Literacy
Moderator: Mohammad Ahmadi
Speakers: Anisa Nanavati, Farah Mahmoud, Sari Hellara, Nour Al-Kaaby,
and Sumayyah Ajani Adetomiwa.
For youth, it is important for us to be taught that climate change is
real, and that it is possible to mitigate and adapt. Climate education
is needed for a fast, green transition because it will prepare us for
green jobs and lifestyles. This education needs to be accessible to
everyone, regardless of who they are and where they come from.
Session 4: Climate Migration, Borders and Human Rights
Moderator: Mohaddeseh Barghamadi
Speakers: Jesus Villalba, Ayisha Siddiqa, Mohab Sherif, and Nadiya
Khalif.
Because of climate change, youth are on the frontlines of the growing
crisis at the US border, while small island nations in the South Pacific
are going underwater threatening their lives and futures. This session
discusses why climate migration is a youth issue and asks what kind of
action we want from our world leaders.
Session 5: Zero Emissions Timeline and Transition to Renewable
Energy
Moderator: Brooke Nelson Muzzatti
Speakers: Jana Jandal Alrifai, Muska Sadat, and Ayesha Imtiaz.
A rapid decrease in fossil fuel extraction and emission, along with a
high speed transition to renewable energy is the key to a habitable
planet and livable future for youth. At the core of this transition is
climate justice, ensuring that those most impacted by the climate crisis
are supported and protected. This session concentrates on obstacles to a
just transition and how we can push through them.
Session 6: Preparing the Youth Movement for COP 26 and 2022
Moderator: Kevin Mtai
Speakers: Kaluki Paul Mutuku, Wendy Gao, Maria Fernanda Durà n, Alisa
Salıcı, and Maria Serra Olivella
The youth movement needs to work together to fight for ambitious and
productive climate action that acts with the urgency required of this
crisis, without empty promises. This session will emphasize how
COP26 must be an inclusive space for young
people, especially Indigenous and disabled youth climate activists and
those from the most affected areas. Past COPs have been funded by the
fossil fuels industry, and it is high time that these polluters no
longer have influence and presence within these discussions.
Session 7: The Youth Perspective on Adaptation
Moderator: Ananya Guruprasad
Speakers: Razan Ahmed, Hania Imran, Afrah Qaisar, Daphne Frias, and
Aman Sharma
This session will focus on areas of adaptation within policy including
disaster management and recovery, and youth climate anxiety and eco
grief.
Session 8: Closing
Moderator: Christine Leung
Speakers: Jerome Foster, Jamie Margolin, Leah Namugerwa, and Catarina
Lorenzo.
The moderator and speakers will review the updated youth demands.
Remarks by U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry at
the opening of the Climate Adaptation Summit 2021.
Transcript:
It’s a privilege to be able to be with you. And let me start by
thanking Prime Minister Rutte and the government of the Netherlands
for hosting this important and timely meeting.
I’m really delighted to be here. I also want to thank, if I may,
Secretary General Guterres for his tireless leadership on climate
change. And of course my friend Ban Ki-Moon, who was central as we
negotiated the Paris agreement and brought it into force. And he’s
been a partner not just on climate but on many other things and
challenges.
Three years ago, scientists gave us a pretty stark warning. They said
we have 12 years within which to avoid the worst consequences of
climate change. Now we have nine years left. And I regret that my
country has been absent for three of those years.
In the United States, we spent 265 billion dollars in one year for
three storms, just cleaning up after those storms. Last year, one
storm, 55 billion dollars.
We’ve reached the point where it is an absolute fact that it’s cheaper
to invest in preventing damage, or minimizing it at least, than
cleaning up. Now, without question, I think, everybody understands
this, the best adaptation is to treat the crisis as the emergency that
it is and do more to hold the earth’s temperature increase to the
Paris-stated 1.5 degrees. I think scientists are more and more landing
on the 1.5 as a critical figure.
A 3.7 to 4.5 increase centigrade, which is
exactly the path that we are on now, invites for the most vulnerable
and poorest people on earth fundamentally unlivable conditions. So our
urgent reduction of emissions is compelled by public conscience and by
common sense. President Biden has made fighting climate change a top
priority of his administration. We have a president now, thank God,
who leads, tells the truth, and is seized by this issue.
And President Biden knows that we have to mobilize in unprecedented
ways to meet a challenge that is fast accelerating. And he knows we
have limited time to get it under control. For that reason, the United
States immediately rejoined the Paris agreement. And we intend to do
everything we possibly can to ensure that
COP26 results in ambitious climate action,
in which all major-emitter countries raise ambitions significantly,
and in which we help protect those who are the most vulnerable.
We have already launched our work to prepare a new U.S. nationally
determined
contribution
that meets the urgency of the challenge. And we aim to announce our
NDC as soon as practicable.
The administration also intends to make significant investments in
climate action, both domestically and as part of our efforts to build
back better from
COVID. And internationally, we intend to
make good on our climate finance pledge.
In the long term driving towards net zero emissions no later than
2050, and keeping a 1.5 degree limit within reach remain the best
policies for climate resilience and adaptation. There is simply no
adapting to a three or four degree world except for the very richest
and most privileged. At the same time, we have to also build
resilience to protect communities from the impacts of climate change
that already built in to the emissions that are in the atmosphere.
Now some of these impacts are inevitable, because of the warming
that’s already taken place. But if we don’t act boldly and immediately
by building resilience to climate change, we are likely going to see
dramatic reversals in economic development for everybody. Poor and
climate-vulnerable communities everywhere will obviously pay the
highest price.
So the United States will work on three fronts to promote ambition and
resilience and adaptation: leverage U.S. innovation and climate data
and information to promote a better understanding and management of
climate risk, especially in developed countries; we will significantly
increase the flow of finance, including concessional
finance,
to adaptation and resilience initiatives; we will work with bilateral
and multilateral institutions to improve quality of resilience
programming; and we will work with the private sector, in the United
States and elsewhere in developing countries, to promote greater
collaboration between businesses and the communities on which they
depend.
And it is our firm conviction throughout all of our administration
every agency is now part of our climate team. And only together are we
going to be able to build the resilience to climate change that is
critical to save lives and meet our moral obligation for future
generations, and to those currently living in very difficult
circumstances. So we’re proud to be back. We come back, I want you to
know, with humility, for the absence of the last four years, and we’ll
do everything in our power to make up for it.
President
Biden has a choice to make: Will he side with the people or a handful of
fossil fuel executives? It’s a test with results that will determine the
future of our planet and the wellbeing of future generations that will
inhabit it. We are putting our bodies on the
line to ensure
President Biden passes this crucial test.