Global Youth United in Efforts to Stop Climate Change

CBS morning show had a piece on the youth activism around global climate change. Young people like 15-year-old Alec Loorz is taking

"his message across the country, using poles to illustrate the predicted sea level rise if nothing is done to prevent global warning."

But this generation of youth isn't new to global warming nor the activism surrounding it. The 1990's brought a nation wide effort in Canada called the Youth Alliance for the "Turnaround Decade" where young people advocated for solutions to climate change, and young people in California particularly advocated for recycling programs when environmental activists invested in a generation of young people who also convinced their parents to take action. And who can ever forget growing up with Jesse the good-hearted environmentalist on Saved by the Bell (before she became a stripper). There was even an entire episode about how "drill baby drill" on the school football field killed hundreds of the crew's beloved science pets in the school's pond.

A whole generation of youth from 35 and under grew up with saving the world from ourselves and the extenuation of "last chances" has sputtered on and on like an old diesel engine.

The fight among young people to stop global warming isn't merely a US fight, its become the common bond to unite a generation of our planet's youth. The UN's Environment Program announced Thursday it's new partnership with the Republic of Korea for increased reduction in carbon emissions.

But while UN officials met with State Leaders, 700 young people ranging from 10 to 24 attended the largest ever UN backed global youth gathering on taking action against climate change.

"They issued a declaration, entitled “Listen to Our Voices: The Future Needs Strong Vision and Leadership,” expressing their “concern and frustration that their governments are not doing enough to combat climate change,” and emphasizing that “we now need more actions and less talking.”

The week-long Tunza Children and Youth Conference on the Environment is part of the UN’s “Seal the Deal” campaign spearheaded by the Secretary-General, who has made tackling global warming one of his top priorities.

The young people’s “voices will and must be heard because they will inherit the outcomes of our actions,” Mr. Ban said."

India too has noted the importance with incorporating youth into a global climate change agenda.

"Calling for strengthening the scientific foundations of environment policies with mass participation, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday. "We must involve more stakeholders, particularly youth, to lead the movement for environmental protection."

If only we'd listened to Saved by the Bell back in 1991, we wouldn't be drilling anymore or using styrofoam containers. Instead a quiet majority works through the process to enact meaningful social change in hopes that the threats of a last chance decade can be pushed off for another ten years.

• Sarah Burris's blog