Fridays for Future is a dynamic global student movement pushing for immediate action on climate change through active campaigning and advocacy. It was chosen as Champion of the Earth for inspiration and action because of its role in highlighting the devastating effects of climate change.
Fridays for Future has millions of passionate activists who insist that their voices be heard on what many see as the defining issue of their generation. The movement was inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who sat in protest in front of the Swedish parliament for three weeks last year to draw attention to the climate emergency.
Now every month, students around the world take to the streets to demand that politicians do more to acknowledge and act upon the reality and severity of climate change. These regular marches have attracted more than one million young people in more than 100 countries. As Thunberg says: “Everybody is welcome. Everybody is needed”.
The Fridays for Future movement has electrified the global conversation about climate change at a time when the window of opportunity to avoid the worst effects of rising temperatures is closing. Global emissions are reaching record levels and show no sign of peaking. Sea levels are rising, coral reefs are dying and extreme weather events are becoming more common and more destructive around the world.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said he understands the anger of the youth and that their voices give him hope for the future.
In June, Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement were honoured with Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience award, which celebrates people who have shown unique leadership and courage in standing up for human rights.
The passion and energy displayed by the members of the Fridays for Future movement offer hope that global leaders can be persuaded to act to reduce carbon emissions within 12 years and hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C and even, as asked by the latest science, to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Champions of the Earth is the United Nations’ flagship global environmental award. It was established by the UN Environment Programme in 2005 to celebrate outstanding figures whose actions have had a transformative positive impact on the environment. From world leaders to environmental defenders and technology inventors, the awards recognize trailblazers who are working to protect our planet for the next generation.
Previous winners of the Champions of the Earth award for inspiration and action include Afroz Shah, an Indian lawyer who organized the world’s biggest beach clean-up project in Mumbai (2016); the Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit from South Africa (2015); and Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo, a community-based conservation activist from Mexico (2013).
