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.
Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologism combines the ideology of social ecology and environmentalism. Ecologism is more commonly used in continental European languages, while environmentalism is more commonly used in English but the words have slightly different connotations.
Greenpeace USA is the United States affiliate of Greenpeace International, an environmental nonprofit organization that spawned a social movement inspired by direct actions on the high seas to stop whaling and nuclear testing. Headquartered in Washington D.C., Greenpeace U.S.A. operates with an annual budget of approximately $40 million, employing over 500 people in 2020. The organization relies on donations from members, refuses corporate contributions and refrains from endorsing political candidates, though in 2020 Greenpeace USA issued climate scorecards for presidential candidates and ranked them from best to worst on climate
Robert Julio Garcia is an American educator and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 42nd congressional district since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 28th mayor of Long Beach, California from 2014 to 2022. He was both the city's youngest and first elected openly LGBT mayor, as well as the first Latino to hold the office. He is the second person of color to be mayor of Long Beach, after Republican Eunice Sato, a Japanese-American who served from 1980 to 1982. A former member of the Long Beach City Council, he was vice mayor from 2012 to 2014.
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.
Mary Dolores Nichols is an American attorney and government official who has been the chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) since 2007. She also held that post between 1979 and 1983. From 1999 to 2003, she served as secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency in the cabinet of then-Governor Gray Davis. Due to her efforts to combat global warming, she has been dubbed "the Queen of Green", and described as "the most influential environmental regulator in history."
Climate change litigation, also known as climate litigation, is an emerging body of environmental law using legal practice to set case law precedent to further climate change mitigation efforts from public institutions, such as governments and companies. In the face of slow politics of climate change delaying climate change mitigation, activists and lawyers have increased efforts to use national and international judiciary systems to advance the effort. Climate litigation typically engages in one of five types of legal claims: Constitutional law, administrative law, private law (challenging corporations or other organizations for negligence, nuisance, etc., fraud or consumer protection, or human rights.
Autumn Peltier is an Anishinaabe Indigenous rights advocate from the Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. She was named Chief Water Commissioner for the Anishinabek Nation in 2019. In 2018, at the age of thirteen, Peltier addressed world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly on the issue of water protection.
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.
Aliénor Rougeot is a Canadian-French climate justice activist.
Adenike Oladosu is a Nigerian climate activist, and initiator of the school strike for climate in Nigeria. She has showcased her climate action at international conferences including the UN Climate Change Conference, World Economic Forum, and Elevate festival in Graz-Austria.
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.
Ridhima Pandey is an Indian environmental activist who advocates for action against climate change. She has been likened to Greta Thunberg. When she was nine years old, she filed a suit against the Indian government for not taking enough steps to combat climate change. She also was one of the complainants to the United Nations, along with several other young climate activists, against several nations' failure to take action against the climate crisis.
Leah Namugerwa is a youth climate activist in Uganda. She is known for leading tree planting campaigns and for starting a petition to enforce the plastic bag ban in Uganda. Following inspiration from Greta Thunberg, she began supporting school strikes in February 2019 with fellow Fridays for the Future Uganda organizer Sadrach Nirere.
Mitzi Jonelle Tan is a Filipino climate justice activist. She lives in Metro Manila, Philippines.
Zanagee Artis is an American climate activist. He is best known for co-founding the youth-led climate activist group Zero Hour in 2017. As of 2021, Artis was Acting Policy Director of Zero Hour.
Kevin Mtai(from Soy, Kenya) is a Kenya climate justice activist and environmentalist. A Former event coordinator at MockCop26. He is a Co-Founder and Director of Global Development for Earth Uprising International Earth Uprising where he has been advocating for climate education in Kenya and Africa. He is a member of Loss and Damage Youth Coalition and he has advocated for the conservation of Nairobi National Park. Mtai is an organiser at Climate Live which uses music concerts to raise awareness and educate people about climate change. Mtai has also been a campaigner for Food@COP.
The 2022 Los Angeles elections were held on June 7, 2022. Voters elected candidates in a nonpartisan primary, with runoff elections scheduled for November 8, 2022. Eight of the fifteen seats in the City Council were up for election while three of the seven seats in the LAUSD Board of Education were up for election. The seat of Mayor of Los Angeles was up for election due to incumbent Eric Garcetti's term limit. The seats of the Los Angeles City Controller and the Los Angeles City Attorney were also up for election, as their incumbents, Mike Feuer and Ron Galperin, were running for mayor and California State Controller respectively.
Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) is a youth-led advocacy group based in Ghana. It was founded in 2014 by Joshua Amponsem and Desmond Alugnoa. The group focuses on environmental sustainability and community improvement. GAYO aims is to inspire young people to participate in climate activism and foster climate leadership in Ghana. GAYO also provides environmental blogs. GAYO established the first Youth Climate Council in Africa to provide climate skills to young people when it launched the council in 2021 in Ghana.
Nyombi Morris is a Ugandan environmental activist who is known for promoting and advocating for climate justice and gender equality. Morris's activism began when he asked world leaders and polluters to adopt climate change based on the devastating rains and floods in Uganda. Morris is CEO of a non-profit organization he founded known as Earth Volunteers, ambassador for the UNOCHA, and CNN's "Environmentalist of Tomorrow."
