Climate Action Day 2024: Messages of hope and action
Reflection by Scott Kennedy, Climate action education expert, Take Action Global
Climate Action Day 2024 began with hope. “In the times that we live in, being carriers of hope, we can be change makers.” Poet Awa Ndiaye set the stage for a global gathering of students, educators, scientists, artists, actors, and activists, who shared their messages of awareness, action, connecting cultures, and creating a sustainable future. She described the importance of climate education and acknowledging youth perspectives as an integral component in establishing a solid foundation for achieving global sustainability and climate stability.
Film maker Xin Xue recognized the irony of our anthropogenic situation: “While we are able to create artificial versions of ourselves, we are still struggling to maintain our own existence.” Some possible solutions may come from a truly global perspective.
NASA guests Rick Davis, Ave Kludze, and Christina Cannon described the importance of the space program in helping to solve problems on Earth: “The key to solving the climate crisis is to take it step by step.” Space technology has provided a new perspective to identify causes and effects of climate change. By studying the climates of other planets, scientists can gain a greater understanding of the dynamics of Earth’s climate. Lessons learned from necessities associated with space travel and research, such as resource conservation and zero waste production, can be applied to current issues on Earth. Solutions to problems do not come from just scientists and engineers, ideas are needed from multiple disciplines and perspectives.
Astronaut and artist Nicole Stott connected the relationship between the ISS and planet Earth: “Seven people on a space station provide a great model for how seven billion should be living and working together on our planetary spaceship, not just complacent passengers.”
Collaborating as a global community to protect Earth’s resources and natural life support systems through education, action, developing sustainable habits and lifestyles to maintain this spaceship Earth. On this fifth Climate Action Day, a diverse community of its crew came together to do just that. As a student in Tunisia described: “The Climate Action Project has given us the wings to fly from local to global.”
The full recording of Climate Action Day 2024 is available for viewing:
Please join us for our next project, Coding for Climate 2025: https://coding4climate.org/
