An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities". An environmentalist is engaged in or believes in the philosophy of environmentalism or one of the related philosophies.
The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. Environmental non-profit organizations have engaged in significant climate activism since the late 1980s and early 1990s, as they sought to influence the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Climate activism has become increasingly prominent over time, gaining significant momentum during the 2009 Copenhagen Summit and particularly following the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2016.
The environmental movement in Switzerland is represented by a wide range of associations.
Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation.
The September 2019 climate strikes, also known as the Global Week for Future, were a series of international strikes and protests to demand action be taken to address climate change, which took place from 20 to 27 September 2019. The strikes' key dates were 20 September, which was three days before the United Nations Climate Summit, and 27 September. The protests took place across 4,500 locations in 150 countries. The event stemmed from the Fridays for Future school strike for climate movement, inspired by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. The Guardian reported that roughly 6 million people participated in the events, whilst 350.org – a group that organised many of the protests – claim that 7.6 million people participated.
School Strike for Climate, also known variously as Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate, Climate Strike or Youth Strike for Climate, is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand action from political leaders to prevent climate change and for the fossil fuel industry to transition to renewable energy.
Luisa-Marie Neubauer is a German climate activist. She is one of the main organisers of the school strike for climate movement in Germany, where it is commonly referred to under its alternative name Fridays for Future. She advocates a climate policy that complies with and surpasses the Paris Agreement and endorses de-growth. Neubauer is a member of Alliance 90/The Greens and the Green Youth.
Adelaide Charlier is a Belgian activist fighting for climate and social justice. She co-founded the Youth for Climate movement in Belgium. She is mainly known for her involvement in the fight against climate change. Inspired by the actions of Greta Thunberg, she is one of the leading figures, alongside Kyra Gantois and Anuna De Wever, of the first school strikes for climate in Belgium.
Alexandria Villaseñor is an American climate activist living in New York. A follower of the Fridays for Future movement and of fellow climate activist Greta Thunberg, Villaseñor is a co-founder of U.S. Youth Climate Strike and the founder of Earth Uprising.
The Citizens Convention for Climate is a citizens' assembly held in 2019 and 2020 which discussed reducing France's carbon emissions by 40% from its 1990 levels in a spirit of social justice. It was initiated in response to the Yellow Vest protests to the fuel tax. The convention was modeled after a number of other deliberative experiments known as mini-publics. The members of the convention were 150 randomly selected citizens designed to be representative of the French public across six demographic dimensions: gender, age, socio-economic background, education level, location type, and province. The convention was assisted by a number of committees including the governance committee, a team of experts who provided organizational guidance and assistance, a guarantor college, which maintained the convention's independence, and a legal board. The members themselves divided into working groups on five issues within the topic of climate change: food, housing, employment, transportation, and consumption.
Xiye Bastida Patrick is a Mexican climate activist and member of the Indigenous Otomi community. She is one of the major organizers of Fridays for Future New York City and has been a leading voice for indigenous and immigrant visibility in climate activism. She is on the administration committee of the People's Climate Movement and a former member of Sunrise Movement and Extinction Rebellion. She cofounded Re-Earth Initiative, an international nonprofit organization that is inclusive and intersectional “just as the climate movement should be.” Xiye is pronounced "she-yeh", [ʃi-jɛ], meaning not available.
Noga Levy-Rapoport is an Israeli-born British climate activist, speaker, and volunteer within British climate strikes at the UK Student Climate Network.
Vanessa Nakate is an Ugandan climate justice activist.
Jerome Foster II is an American environmental activist. He is the youngest-ever White House Advisor in United States history, as a member of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council within the Biden administration. Foster is a leading voice for marginalized and working class communities in spaces pushing for social, economic and environmental justice. Foster is one of the major organizers of Fridays for Future; holding weekly climate strikes at the front gates of the White House for over 57 weeks. He has previously served as a congressional intern for U.S. Representative John Lewis at the age of 16 and served on the Washington DC State Board of Education's Advisory Council at the age of 14.
Hilda Flavia Nakabuye is a Ugandan climate and environmental rights activist who founded Uganda's Fridays for Future movement. She also advocates for greater gender equality and racial diversity in the climate change movement. One of her environmental concerns is saving Lake Victoria, which connects Uganda to neighboring countries. As part of her activism, Nakabuye visits schools and communities to empower more women to join the fight against climate change, stating that "the climate crisis has no borders". She also created Climate Striker Diaries, an online platform to encourage digital awareness about climate change.
Bristol Youth Strike 4 Climate is an environmental advocacy group that was established in February 2019. in response to the international Fridays for Future and Youth Strike 4 Climate movements. Run by a team of student volunteers aged 14 to 24, the group have organised 10 climate strikes as of September 2020, calling for climate justice and drawing attention to the climate and ecological crisis.
Yola Mgogwana is a South African climate activist from Khayelitsha, Cape Town.
Dominique Palmer FRSA is a British climate justice activist and student. She spoke at 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and began her activism as one of the U.K’s leading U.K environmentalists and youth activists in the School Strike for Climate Movement.
