For young people like me, how the world deals with climate change isn’t a theoretical issue. It’s about our very survival. And that means we can’t wait for the powers that be to make incremental and ineffective changes.
That truth hit me in 2015. As I sat in a room in Paris filled with developed country leaders and their corporate backers celebrating the creation of the Paris Agreement of the U.N. climate treaty, I was staring at my phone, waiting for my friends and family in Chennai, India to let me know if they had survived the hurricane and floods that were ravaging my hometown.
I was in fear for my loved ones in the middle of a climate-related disaster. At the same time, Global North governments and corporate executives were patting themselves on the back for an agreement that was perhaps a good start but not nearly enough to avoid the kinds of climate catastrophes that people like my family were already experiencing. Despite the Paris Agreement being hailed by some as the climate deal to save us all, it takes us toward an unlivable and unjust world, even if it is fully implemented. There is no doubt in my mind that this is because Big Polluters like the fossil fuel industry have had a stranglehold on the U.N. climate treaty negotiations for longer than the 23 years that I’ve been alive.
That moment led me to today, when I’m getting ready to attend the next round of U.N. climate treaty negotiations. And I need to know that some of my most trusted allies like Corporate Accountability will be there. Will you donate now to help them reach their goal of $5,000, so they can send the strongest team of organizers possible?
I’m going to the treaty negotiations to speak truth to power. One of the most obstructionist forces at these treaty meetings is the influence of Big Polluters. For more than two decades, the fossil fuel industry and other Big Polluters have effectively prevented just and effective international climate solutions.
Corporate Accountability, alongside my youth-led organization, SustainUS, is working hand in hand with global climate justice groups to kick Big Polluters out of the U.N. climate treaty. Together we’ll continue to call out their influence and demand governments take a stand.
And it’s working. Every meeting the call to kick Big Polluters out gets louder and louder. Every year more people join in to demand true climate justice solutions.
And every year Big Polluters hit back harder.
That’s why it’s vital that Corporate Accountability is at the talks. Their organizing and support of those who are willing to stand up to Big Polluters and developed country governments is critical to the success of the movement to kick Big Polluters out.
And as a Corporate Accountability member, you can help power this success. A generous gift from you will help them reach their $5,000 goal so they can send a strong team of organizers. And together, we can all make real progress toward climate justice.
Aneesa Khan is the Executive Coordinator of SustainUS, a youth-led climate justice organization that creates opportunities for youth from frontline communities to take their stories of resilience to the international level.
