Climate change knows no boundaries. Nor should its solutions. Climate change is affecting people around the world, and so the world (and especially youth) must unite to address this issue. Do we do this through Kyoto? Do we tackle it through our federal governments? Are we more effective as an international movement? Or, closer to home, as a Canada-US movement? How about a strictly national movement?
Some movements move quickly, like the Canada-US love affair. And the hype is already up and running within the US. And now there's also a movement stirring in Canada. It might be a little late, and it might seem a little scattered, but it's starting to come alive.
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At the beginning of June, a small group of Canadian youth came together at a conference put on by the Sierra Club of Canada. A number of these youth had been involved in the climate change movement on the international level, and the Canada-US level, but felt that the spirit was missing on home-court. And so became the beginning threads of a Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.
There are a great number of stellar youth-based organizations working on climate change already in Canada, but without coordination. Organizations like the Sierra Youth Coalition, the Arctic Youth Alliance, and the Youth Environment Network have been spear-headers in the movement. Now is the time to come together in a more unified fashion as a stronger response to the lack of action on climate change by our federal government.
We're reaching out to every organization we can think of, we are building our media base, and are working alongside our elders of the Canadian Climate Action Network. A Founding Meeting will be held in Toronto on the 2nd weekend in September. With seasoned activists, well-trained organizers, and educational backgrounds ranging from law, to business, to science and beyond, we're ready to rock this country.
Beyond Canada, organizations across Canada and the US have been building upon the Energy Action Network - a collaboration of over 30 organizations across both countries. A number of us came together in New Hampshire last week, partly to train as leaders of the Campus Climate Challenge. It was strengthening to realize how much both sides of the border have to offer each other.
On one hand, Canadian organizations have been working on climate and sustainability issues, particularly on campuses, for a number of years. We are very process oriented, and have created lengthy and detailed documents and trainings to empower young people to lead in these key areas. Organization and objectives are the backbone to any long-term movement. We're calm, cool and collected. We know what's going on. Not much else matters.
On the other hand, American organizations are very focused on making an issue known - sell the idea and pump up hundreds and thousands of people to join you. They're intense. They're in-your-face. They're exciting. Everything is bigger and better. Media is a huge strength and a necessary element. Process vs. motivation? Resources vs. fresh views? Grassroots vs. international movement? Turns out that replacing "vs." with "AND" isn't so hard to do.
The beauty of this imbalance that both countries suffer from is that we now have each other to build off of. In fact we've been building for a few years now. But we've hit a tipping point. We've reached a shared understanding that we all have so much to give and take from each other. We are learning - we are teaching. We are standing on each other's shoulders to reach the Utopian skyline that gets closer every day.
American and Canadian youth might be very different - and we might not always understand eachother. Bordering divides have become clear bridges in the Canada-US climate movement. President Bush and Prime Minister Harper are united in their climate vision. We can be too.
The international movement is important. But it is nothing without the heart of the movement beating within each continent, each country, each town, each home - and ultimately within each individual.
Someone once told me that you only have to convince 16% of the population to believe something before the rest begin to follow. (Doesn't that feel nice?)
Move the movement.
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