The Paris agreement has catapulted us all into a new reality. Governments have signed it, now they must act on it. And meanwhile, a global movement of people against fossil fuels is moving ahead - and you can be a part of it. We are the generation that ends fossil fuels!
Here are four ways people just like you are leading the charge towards a safer, greener and more peaceful future.
1. Typhoon survivors take on world’s biggest polluters
Typhoon survivors, advocates and NGOs (including Greenpeace Southeast Asia) in the Philippines made history last year when they lodged a legal complaint with the country’s Human Rights Commission (CHR). This triggered an investigation into the world’s biggest polluters’ failure to reduce carbon emissions and responsibility for increasing the risk of climate impacts and extreme weather events, such as super typhoon Haiyan, which killed thousands of people in the Philippines when it struck three years ago, on 8 November 2013.
Join the fight for climate justice here.
2. Young people sue Norwegian government over Arctic oil drilling
A girl points at an oil rig in an illustration for The People vs Arctic Oil
Greenpeace Nordic and Natur og Ungdom filed a lawsuit against the Norwegian government because new oil and gas drilling licenses in the Arctic contravene the Paris Agreement and violate the Norwegian constitutional right to a healthy environment for current and future generations.
The movement, featured on the website of the current Leonardo DiCaprio climate change film ‘Before the Flood’, has received pledges of solidarity everywhere and amassed over 90,000 signatures.
Add yours here - the names of everyone who signs the petition will be submitted in court as evidence of the growing movement against Arctic oil.
3. Senior women’s lawsuit against the Swiss government for climate inaction
A group portrait of KlimaSeniorinnen (Senior Women for Climate Protection)
Just weeks ago in Switzerland, 459 women aged 65 and over launched a legal challenge to force the national government to take stronger action on climate change, as the wave of peoples’ demands for climate justice continues to roll around the world.
The KlimaSeniorinnen (Association of Senior Women for Climate Protection) complaint will proceed to court if the Swiss government fails to comply with the grandmothers’ demands.
Check out a video of the Swiss grannies’ awesome work here and support them here!
4. Indigenous Peoples fighting to uphold their rights at the Supreme Court of Canada
Elders, staff and local residents at Ilisaksivik community centre, in Clyde River, with Greenpeace guests.
In the Canadian Arctic, the stakes are high. In Kangiqtugaapik (Clyde River), in the far northern territory of Nunavut, Indigenous Peoples are taking a stand against the damaging practice of seismic blasting. The Inuit community of Clyde River was not properly consulted before the project was approved, which is a violation of their rights under Canada’s Constitution and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. Clyde River will have their case heard before the Supreme Court of Canada on 30 November.
This is not a case specifically concerning climate change, but it’s a part of growing resistance against one of the many dangerous practices of the oil industry.
Stand with them and tell PM Justin Trudeau to respect Indigenous rights and stop seismic blasting!
5. Waikato Law student sues the New Zealand Government
In November 2015, 24-year-old Waikato law student Sarah Thomson commenced a case against the New Zealand Government, saying its emissions targets were irrational. She says the NZ government has failed to set emissions targets that reflect the science on climate change and she is calling on the High Court to review New Zealand's emissions targets.
Thomson's case was one of the first of a ripple of climate litigation spreading around the globe, which have the backing of a broad civil society coalition, are fronted by young environmentalists, and supported by scientists, indigenous leaders, activists and public figures.
“It is young people who will pay the true cost of today’s inaction. Our government has a duty to its people, to ensure a safe place for us and our children to live. But, if they are not fulfilling that duty, it is up to us to demand action." says Sarah.
Stand with Sarah Thomson - donate to her legal fund via this Givealittle page. Read more here.
One woman's #SunUnitesUs photo
...and as a reward, here’s a bonus - not a legal case, but thousands of voices of unity from across 22 Arab World countries exulting clean solar power and peace.
From Morocco, the host nation for the UN climate conference taking place this week, all the way to Iraq, ordinary people are declaring that the Sun Unites Us in sun selfies, calling on decision-makers in the abundantly sunny region to commit to clean solar energy.
Leaders and political delegates at the conference will be faced with hundreds of those people’s #SunUnitesUs in a giant mosaic inside the COP.
It’s time for ambition. We are the generation that ends fossil fuels.
Adapted from a blog by Tom Lowe at Greenpeace International