 soon, but we don't, we will get started and hopefully he can join us soon. So let's get started. Okay. Hello, everybody. And welcome to Zero Emissions Conference session on MRI Climate Talks with Youth Climate Activists. My name is Airi Saikawa, and I'm an Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences and the Director of Science, Policy and Community Engaged Research at the Resilience and Sustainability Collaboratory at Emory University. Emory Climate Talks in partnership with the Department of Environmental Sciences and the Resilience and Sustainability Collaboratory at Emory University is a student-centered initiative creating opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to become the agents of change in the climate change movement. Higher education brings an essential voice to efforts on climate change, and we have been proud to support bringing students between 2015 and 2019 to the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations. As the world continues to navigate a new normal amidst COVID-19, MRI Climate Talks has been eager to keep important conversations going about the human impact on climate. This year, we decided against sending students, but instead have supported activists and alumni attend the COP26. We are thrilled that we are able to be a part of the Zero Emissions Solutions Conference organized by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and I hope that you have been enjoying the conference so far. We will have another day of the conference tomorrow, and we hope you will join the MRI Climate Talks again when we come back to talk about food waste and anaerobic digestion tomorrow at the same time. So today's section is all about youth activism, and I'm very excited to introduce two Emory students who will be moderating the session. We have Marlon Gantt, who is a first-year master's student at Emory University studying environmental sciences. We also have Kayla Wilkinson, who is a third-year Emory undergraduate student studying international studies and sustainability studies. We will have a Q&A session at the end, but please feel free to post any questions you might have to any of the panelists using the Q&A tab at the bottom at any time. So now, without further ado, let's get started. Hello, everyone. As I mentioned, I am Marlon, and I am extremely grateful to be a part of this session today. As a new student in the Environmental Science Department, my interest in climate change developed through my work with Dr. Ari Sakawa. This includes Amplifier, which is a podcast through Emory Climate Talks, and also I'm actually enrolled in her Climate Change and Society course. And today Kayla and I will actually be the moderators for this session, and we would like to welcome you all to the Emory Climate Talks. Today, our topic of discussion is on youth activism. As the impacts of climate change intensify, young people are becoming more aware of the challenges and risks presented by the climate crisis. Youth have taken the initiative to tackle the climate crisis and to achieve sustainable development. The youth's involvement all around the world has shown the power they possess in holding decision-makers accountable, catalyzing innovation, pushing for immediate climate action, and also advocating for marginalized communities. Hi everyone, I'm Kayla. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm really honored to be spending this afternoon with you all, partaking in such an important conversation. My interest in environmental justice began my first semester at Emory. It was the first time that I ever had the opportunity to learn about climate change, not only through the lens of science, but as it intersects with countless other social, political, and economic disciplines. Since I've been here, Emory students and faculty like Dr. Saikawa have shown an inspiring and relentless commitment to climate action and environmental justice, and I think those efforts are what brings us here today. With the insight of our panelists, we hope to have a thoughtful discussion on the actionable steps that we can all take towards mitigating and solving the climate crisis. So with that being said, we would like to give a warm welcome to our special guests, Marlo Baines, Damilolo Balucun, and Diana Fernandez. And Marlon and I are going to briefly introduce them before we allow them the opportunity to introduce themselves and their organizations. So I'll begin with Marlo. Marlo Baines serves as a youth graduate program director at Climate Justice Organization Earth Guardians. She's a self-proclaimed deep listener, a lover of nature, and a dedicated advocate for elevating the voices of young people in the quest for social and environmental change. At only 18 years old, she already has extensive experience speaking, organizing, and leading at the local, national, and international levels. Since 2018, Marlo has served as a youth director for Earth Guardians leading global crew calls and connecting youth worldwide. In 2020, she launched the Earth Guardians Youth Council, a group of nine youth leaders from across the United States, Canada, and Central America who help guide the organization and collaborate with staff on programming projects and partnerships. She also works with Earth Guardians regional directors from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas on international projects and programs. Next, we have Damilolo Balucun. We can also refer to him as Dami. And he is the co-founder and CEO of the Youth Sustainability Development Network and Conference. Dami is a young social entrepreneur and international development consultant. He is a purpose-driven and goal-oriented individual with hallmark records and sustainable development leadership, diplomatic negotiations, and social impact challenge ventures of the United Nations and its affiliates. Damilolo is also the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Sustainability Development Conference, which is a platform that works with change makers and youth across the globe to foster an enabling environment that will lead to more sustainable and resilient future by 2030. Since existence, the Youth Sustainability Development Conference has been able to impact 8,000 youth across 25 countries. And then finally, Diana Fernandez serves as the Director of Finance for International Climate Organization Zero Hour. She is a compassionate advocate for environmental justice, equity, and inclusion. Her personal background seems to have influenced her outreach in multiple ways. Her parents' cute and heritage has inspired her to take full advantage of her liberties by organizing and speaking out against injustice while her passion for environmentalism emerged after witnessing the effects of climate change in her own hometown in Florida. Diana seeks social change through both her activism and her education, studying political science and American law and government in hopes of later pursuing a career in law and public office. Much of her efforts are targeted towards sustainability activism and making resources accessible to low income and racially marginalized communities. So at this time, we'd like to transition and give our panelists an opportunity to further introduce themselves to you all and go over the work that they do for their respective organizations. So I'm going to give the floor over to Marlowe. Hello, everyone. Thank you so much, Kayla, for your introduction. And thank you, Dr. Erie, Siawatra, Sakawa, for also your intro of this conversation. Before I begin, I'm going to start with a poem. This is one that I wrote last year around the time where I was kind of where I was about to transition into being a college student. I'm 19 years old. I just started my first semester at Quest University, Canada. And it's very interesting, you know, going into a pandemic when I was 17 years old, and then, you know, a year and a half later going and beginning college, it was a huge transition. And so I wrote this poem at that time. There are days that I don't know where my lanky body fits in the wild boar of life. But I keep my eyes open, waiting for the whispers that blend in and out of creation. Slowly I realize that the solace of nature is a teacher and that the roaring river is a guide and that I may be the smooth edges of the builders that sit supporting the roar of our water lifeline, changing the course of every raindrop that passes across their surface. So maybe I'll be nothing in the grand scheme of life. But if I hold the intention to touch every person's heart that passes across my surface and help them with their journey with my mountain within, then maybe I can be a stepping stone, a landmark, a guide to another world that is a little more loving. And that's therefore, no matter how small or loud my voice may be, that I may play a role in our changing worlds. Remember, each and every voice is needed in this critical time. The next step is our decision. Thank you. So originally I got involved in the climate justice movement when I was 14. But prior to that, I say that when I was three years old, I'd wake up in the morning, I would go to my kitchen where my dad would be making his coffee and he'd hand me my warm milk when I still drank warm milk. And then I'd go over to my chalkboard where there'd be finger paper dangling in the back and I would pull it forward, open up my finger paints, and I'd begin to tell a story. You know when you were a small kid, right? Lines could be roads, taped up coins to be traps, cotton balls to be people or animals, whatever I was beginning to create was some sort of story. And then when I was in first grade, there was one afternoon where I found myself planting seeds with my friends. And all of a sudden we looked at each other and realized, Oh, this could be a great opportunity to get together once a week and connect with nature and watch as the flowers that we planted all together could grow. And then a few years later, I moved to Boulder, Colorado, my family began to get involved in the climate justice movement, anti-faction movement in our local Boulder, Colorado community. And so all of a sudden I began to go to talks about the climate crisis, about some far off land where polar bears were losing their homes and polar ice caps were melting. And then a few years later, I found myself experiencing a thousand year flood or later what was called a thousand year flood in the heart of the United States. All of a sudden I was seeing my family or my friends' homes being flooded, my friends waking up in the middle of the night, floating on their mattresses as their whole rooms were destroyed. And it was this strange reality as we missed school for a week, realizing as we looked around that something was happening. And then a few years later, when I was 14 years old, I was given a choice. I was up at Standing Rock North Dakota, supporting the water protectors with their stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which if nobody knows, the Dakota Access Pipeline was originally routed north of Bismarck, which is predominantly white. White residents were worried about their water being contaminated. And so Energy Transit partners, the company responsible for building the pipeline, decided to route it further south, adjacent to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. But despite the same questions being raised on the reservation, this time the routes didn't change. So people stood up. Youth stood up. Indigenous youth called for people all across the Americas and the globe to come and join them. And at points, there was 10,000 people at the camp standing for the rights to clean air, water and healthy food. And so as I was up there, we were about to go home and we had this, we went to the road where on one end, on the right, we could see the water protectors camp that was full of color and smells and people and laughter. And then on the other side of the road, there was just a scar in the earth, where they were laying the pipeline. And in my heart, it hurt to know that people like me, white people, had the honestly have the choice to be able to turn away, to pretend not to care about these issues. And then I could go home to my warm suburban home. And so as I came back, I recognized I had privilege in the choice that I had to get involved, but I needed and wanted to get involved. And so as I began to organize, I began to see that in white organizing spaces, there was sometimes this mentality that if it's not in my backyard, it's not my issue. But the reality is, is that 68% of black indigenous and people of color communities live within a 30 mile radius of fossil fuel infrastructure. So we're talking oil refineries, cracking wells, pipelines and full fire power plants. This is all a reality that is linked to birth and defects, heart disease, asthma, cancer, lung disease, learning difficulties and lower property values, all disproportionately impacting lower income communities. And I had recognized that standing rocket taught me that what is done to one community is done to the earth, that we are all connected and therefore we have to stop exploitation at its source. And apparently I learned that what we do to the earth we do to ourselves and therefore the rest of humanity. And so as I began to continue to get involved in 2019, I began to organize climate strikes where we saw thousands, hundreds of thousands of people pouring into the streets, demanding climate action now. But we also need social justice. And so in 2020, Earth Guardians launched a youth council, which is the lead organizing and decision making body for the organization and alignment with our staff and board. And then all of a sudden COVID hit, everything went online, and the world went silent as if there was some pause. But a few months later, after the brutal murder of George Floyd, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement erupted into the streets, our youth council came to our staff and board and asked us to take a deep look at the injustice and rule that white supremacy has played in the conservation environmental movement, what the roots are within the environmental movement that we know today. And so we began by looking at ourselves. We demanded that our organization take a deep look at our systems and to engage in deep listening. We had the hard conversations, which are necessary for the change that we want to see. And we began to do the work internally within our own personal lives and bringing it within our organizing spaces. But after a long year, within this process, I began to realize that this vision that we have seen as a movement that Earth Guardians had seen that we at the Earth Guardians and Youth Council become some model for regenerative leadership. And that's what excites me, is that how we can work and collaborate together more intergenerationally and more towards collaboration inspired me. I recognize that we began to commit ourselves to calling out tokenization of all types, recognize that some people are going to hold more emotional labor and therefore need more support financially or emotionally. We committed to equal pay so that our youth activists can also do the work of organizing for their communities and speaking out, but also making a living. And that creating a more equitable and regenerative world means doing and recognizing that emotional intelligence is a part of the solution. Deep listening and creating space for how we feel, sending boundaries when we need to rest so we don't burn out and recognizing that each person has a unique place and part to play within this movement and the change that we need to see in our world. So before I end, I want to recognize the pulse to action, what each person and what I believe we can do every single day that we can choose to do to create a better world. And honestly, all it starts by taking care of yourself, connecting to what you're passionate about and connecting with others. What I mean is that we need to recognize what we are feeling in these moments, whether it's overwhelmed or fear. And in that moment, we need to go pause. I would invite you to go outside, feel the breeze on your face, put your hands on the dirt, touch a tree or sit under a tree and take a deep breath. Because when we take a deep breath, we are recognized that 50% of our air comes from the forests and green spaces. And that 50% comes from our oceans and fresh waterways. So literally, when we breathe, we're being supported by the entire natural world. And then once we're grounded, we're able to connect with the reason why we are doing this work. It's not from an ego place. It's from a place of actually wanting to see and support those around you. And you have to recognize where your why comes from in this work. When you recognize your why, you can begin to see how your passions can play into the why. So what I mean is if you can recognize what your passions are, whether it's art or connecting people together, or organizing within your local community, we all have a new place and a part to play. And then we look out into our local community and see how do we want to take action? And from there, then we can connect with others. And there's a few tools because y'all sometimes connecting with people is super hard. In some senses, sometimes I call it also just dealing. And so a few things that I think you can do to begin to choose to engage with people in a meaningful way is active listening. Pause when you need to take a moment to really ground into what the person in front of you is saying, especially if you feel opposition or over-excitement for what they're saying. And then once they're done, recognize that you can ask questions. And then be able to connect with them to see them as human. And what I mean is find some sort of calm and down. Maybe it's something that you have in common, like in your background, or the work that you do in the world, or something that they like to do in their free time, but recognizing that they're human. And then also recognize you're not going to change someone in one conversation. It's going to take time. But if you begin to engage and say something about some of the difficult topics, so we're all having to address this humanity in this moment, then maybe you're planting a seed. Because later when they bring up the same discussion or say the same point, they think about your conversation. And that might actually spark the change. And then also recognize that you're going to take accountability for your own actions at some point. And when you do, please don't react. I say this especially to my white friends, my white folks, you have to sometimes just root down and listen to what people are saying, because this is a critical and necessary opportunity to learn, to truly listen and recognize it's going to take time to really understand what was being said to you because nobody calls you out for no reason. And so lastly, I just want to share a little acronym says stop, there stands for stop, take a breath, observe what is going around you and then proceed. This is a universal tool that you can use with your younger siblings, or as old as your grandparents or parents. But to close out, I want to recognize that every voice matters and recognize that however small or large your pool of influence or sphere of influence is, you have the opportunity to make an impact. Recognize that the micro impacts the micro and vice versa. Everyone has a role and a voice in this movement. The individual actions will inspire us to choose the next larger actions. One choice influences the next. And one action inspires another more. A dozen could inspire 10, 100,000 people you never know how small even a small conversation is one choice, or some sort of event or organization or piece that you want to play within this movement. Nothing is too small and nothing is too great. You are enough. And you have it with any to be the change that you want to see. And we are the change the world needs. So now I truly ask you, what are you going to do after this conversation? After today after pop, to create a more equitable and regenerative world? Thank you all. Thanks for putting up with all the sound behind me. And I'm really excited to hear from my fellow panelists. Thank you so much, Marlo, for sharing that with us. I now like to invite Dami to the floor to speak. Hi, can you hear me, Malone? Yes. Awesome. Very, very noisy. I'm currently a cop, and then it's been stressful trying to look for a particular location with a strong internet. But I hope this is good enough. And if it lasts through the session. Alright, so to kickstart, thank you very much, Malone, for that wonderful and original speech. I think it's something that every one of us needs to ask ourselves that after this pop, after everything, what else do we intend to do? I think for me, really, what really, what really matters for me is that as a young person, as a youth that we are, constantly the fact that we make up the larger population of the world, demographic, what one major thing for me is the fact that we need to be empowered, we need to be strategically positioned in order to expect global change and international development. So one major thing, of course, is climate change is real. We understand that at some points, maybe there are different schools of thought. Some will believe that climate change is not real. Some believe that climate change is real or what it is. But one thing we see is that climate change, whether you believe real or not, is the fact that we are all affected by it. Climate change doesn't care about the continent you come from, doesn't care about the colour of your skin, doesn't care about anything, it actually can come for you. And because this thing is really, really coming for people and it is really, really what it takes. And I think it is really important that we need to create more awareness and successfully implement good solutions that will solve the climate change agenda. So for us at the Youth Sustainable Development Network, we strongly believe that young people are absolutely the future. And so we work collectively with respect to several SDGs. But we wonder if we find very dear to our, is the climate action agenda. And in addressing this, we strongly believe that aside from working with such advocating and operation, we know that it's important that we actually do meaningful engagement. And what one is meaningful engagement? I mean, the fact that as young person, we need to take action, we need to actually make sure all of our discussion transforms into meaningful action. And a very clear instance to this was one of our recent projects that we recently concluded in in Lagos, the local farmers in the local government legal state Nigeria. And so before this, before this project, we decided to take some free assessment tests and we are able to understand that farmers in Lagos actually go through a lot with respect to making sure they have a good and a very, very all right irrigation system. Well, as you see, the latter then depends on natural irrigation, which is as a result of rainfall and all that. But rainfall is not coming adequately because of climate change. And so the effect of that is that they have time produced and not coming out to shoot. And the income they're supposed to get is not coming as well. So what we decided to do really was to make sure that we actually empower and sort of supported them with a solar irrigation system. Prior to that time, the few ones who are able to afford generators are actually regenerators. This is actually not environmentally friendly, and it's very costly. So it's something that we have to strategize and see how we can support with the solar irrigation system, which actually assisted them such that they are able to then promote environmental sustainability through the use of a clean energy and they have access to clean energy that would ensure that they maximize their farm produce. And as a result of that, you see that that that actually again, double of the amount of time to just take it. And at the end of the day, you were able to see that you are in the address of the two, which is very under SDG one, which is no poverty and most of the questions is SDG 13 and SDG 17 and affordable energy as well as climate action. So as a result of this, we are proud to admit that because at the end of the day, they have to spend less and they are actually using the use of a clean energy that makes the environment that makes the environment sustainable. So all of this action together is what we were able to do as young persons. And I think it's really something that we are proud of in our network and we're looking forward to doing more things. And like I always say, most importantly, we need to take action. We need to put ourselves out there as young persons to begin to make powerful and meaningful engagements because largely the world depends on us. We are the future, we are tomorrow, and we are the ones that actually can decide what we want to do. And so my call to action is for every young person out there listening to me. I really want you to take action beyond this conversation, beyond this discussion. What do you really want the world to benefit from me? I think you should ask yourself again, what do you really want the world to benefit from me? What do you have to get the world? How do you want to get the world that I know needs space? Because the climate change, it could go through anything, but just make sure you support humanity and you make the world you are living in better. Try to make the impact within your local space because as a result of this, I'm sure all of these things will transform into global development. And so on this note, I would like to hold on for now and then pack it on to Malibu, pack it on to Malibu, yes, to take it up for that. Thank you very much, and I'm looking forward to that discussion. All right, thank you so much, Dammi, for sharing and for that really inspiring call to action. I'm now going to welcome Diana to give her presentation. She graciously prepared some slides for everyone. So we're going to load those now. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for inviting me on this panel and please be here. So let me just go into the next slide to introduce myself. My name is Diana Fernandez. I'm a youth organizer from Miami, Florida, and I'm currently the director of finance for zero hour. Please feel free to connect with me online or contact me if you have any further questions after this presentation. So I'm going to go into the next slide. Before diving in, I do want to mention that the information I'll be sharing today is from a presentation that zero hour made a few years ago called Getting to the Roots of Climate Change. So I figured that instead of going over just a general overview of the organization, I'd share with you all a piece of the work that we do. I believe that out of the many climate organizations that there are, everyone has their own space and movement and the things that they work for. And for zero hour, I feel as though the work that I'll show you today, addressing the disproportionate effects of climate change is one of the core values that we have. And the first thing I'd like to do is to reaffirm our guiding principles. So as an organization and as an individual, I believe that those who are on the front lines of any movement should lead that movement. And secondly, youth leadership is transformational and visionary, and youth must lead because they have always shifted culture towards progress and collective liberation. And if you need to link to the original slides, and if anyone is interested to see like the articles that were used in it, please send me a message or an email or if you'd like to know more about our campaigns and our organization, please check out our website. This is zero hour dot work. So in the next slide, I'll start to go over sort of what we define environment's justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement, environmental laws, regulations and policies. This definition captures most of what environment's justice is. However, it's important to remember that although environment's justice is what we strive for, that being the fair treatment of all people in terms of environment's circumstances, it is something that we have yet to achieve. And many communities around the world suffer from environmental injustices. And it is an issue that zero hour is dedicated to tackle. So one thing that is special about organization is that when we began to research environment's justice, we found information that connects environment's injustice to systems of oppression, which I will be covering in the next slide. So the definition of systems of oppression is institutionalized powers that have been historically formed and perpetuated. As an organization, we affirm that the following four systems, colonialism, patriarchy, racism and capitalism have caused the climate crisis. Today, specifically, you know, since I'm just going to give a brief overview of the presentation, I'll only focus on colonialism and racism. But if you'd like to know more about how patriarchy and capitalism are roots to the climate crisis, again, feel free to contact me for the original slides. Again, the belief that these systems are caused the climate crisis are at the core of what's your hour stands for. So first, I'd like to go over colonialism. So in the next slide, you'll see a picture of something you all might already be familiar with, which is a picture called American progress, and it represents the manifest destiny. So I won't go into too much of what it is, but you'll see that it's representative of the Westward expansion of the United States. And basically, I included this image to represent colonialism, because I believe that while many settlers at the time believe that they were moving west in attempt to redeem and salvage the West as well as spread religion, they ended up killing indigenous people and spreading seeds. So basically, this ideal ideology was used to justify a genocide and expel and cast out the indigenous beliefs at that time in those native communities. So in the next slide, I'll be talking about how colonialism and the environment interact. So colonialism can be thought of as a control over a piece of land and its people by a more dominant power. The definition of colonial colonialism is the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers and exploiting it economically. Obviously, the United States is one of the most colonized countries. And the map on the right actually shows global emissions from fossil fuels around the world. And as you can see, the countries that emit the most emissions are some of the most colonized countries. People moved into these areas and took them over to gain more power. And now it can be scientifically proven that they're responsible for emitting the most fossil fuels. So I'm making this connection primarily to show that once these countries were colonized, they straight away from their indigenous roots and values of protecting the land. Colonialism taught people to take things that weren't theirs and capitalize off natural resources, which is something that still impacts us to this day. So moving on to the next slide, I'll be covering racism and the topic of environmental racism. So this is basically the idea that the majority of industrial fossil fuel projects are constructed around or near minority communities impacting the health and wellbeing of people of color. This was probably the first reason that I joined the climate movement and I began involved in this work, I feel as though around me, a community of mostly Hispanic people, I see that they're affected disproportionately by the impacts of climate change and natural disasters which are exacerbated by the climate crisis. I'll just be sharing three brief examples. So the first one is one that, again, you might all be familiar with, which is the Flint, Michigan water crisis. In 2014, Flint officials had failed to add corrosion control to the river water and the lead from the city's pipes leached into the water and caused many individuals to suffer from high lead levels and many health issues. The biggest issue with this crisis is how long the government and local officials took to do something about it. This crisis mostly affected the low income and black population and with such an error in judgment have been made of this affected a different population. To be quite frank, this is a clear example of racism and there are many other situations where the response to a crisis takes much, much longer when it affects communities of color. The next example I want to share is Mott Haven in the Bronx, which is the middle image. This is nicknamed Azna Ali. The population in this neighborhood in the south Bronx is 97% Hispanic or Black and it also has some of the worst air pollution levels in the United States. The residents of this neighborhood inhale the emissions of hundreds of daily trucks going in and out of the nearby warehouses, exhaust emitted by constant traffic on four nearby highways, printing presses of the Wall Street Journal, a parcel depot and sewage works not far away. Yet what's interesting is that they consume many of these services the least. And the population of this neighborhood they also need asthma hospitalizations at five times the national average and are raised 21 times higher than other neighborhoods in the area. This is another example of pollution, equity and environments of racism. And lastly, the image on the right of St. Gabriel, Louisiana, which is nicknamed Cancer Ali, specifically refers to the stretch of the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It was given this name because of its amount of petrochemical facilities which led to an extreme number of cancer cases. This crisis began in the late 80s when residents of the neighborhood who were primarily people of color noticed that many residents were developing cancer in the community. This has been going on for decades, as you can see. And it's mostly occurring in communities of color and low income communities as well. These communities were basically invisible. They were made to be sacrificed zones and they were forgotten by our governments. So I wanted to include these examples because it shows the work that not only my organization does, but what we truly believe in, which is that we need to do something to change the direct impacts of climate change to communities of color and low income communities since they're disproportionately affected. In the next slide, I can talk a little bit about the changes that need to be made for us to be able to see a different society. So for starters, some of the most important ones are divestment from fossil fuels, implementation of climate justice education to local schools, focusing on local and community farming, sustainable autonomous housing, urging elected officials to create affordable mass transit systems and community gardens. As you can see, many of these are ways that we can all play a role individually to help our communities make changes in order to prevent these effects of climate change to impact the health and well-being of our communities. In the next slide, I'll also go into more detail about some of these structural changes. A just transition away from fossil fuels to completely sustainable energy, which takes into consideration the need for fossil and bio employees to remain employed is one of the most necessary things that we need to do as a society collectively. Next, I believe we should all recognize the systems of oppression and demand for livable earth that we all deserve. We have to demand that those in power get to the roots of climate crisis and tackle the systems of oppression that cause it in the first place. And lastly, in the next slide, is what you can do as an individual. I included that you can follow Zero Hours people platform, but you can also divest your money from national banks to credit unions, reduce meat consumption from industrial producers, do your best to support businesses that have divested from fossil fuels, support elicit officials who believe in climate justice, or start enjoying a local Zero Hour chapter. We have them all around the country as well as internationally, Philippines, Guam, countries in Africa, Middle East Asia. The list goes on. If you're interested, please reach out to me. But honestly, if I will, I will emphasize one specific individual action, which is ending financial accounts with banks that finance fossil fuel projects. It's one thing that you can do as an individual that would make a huge difference. Many popular banks such as Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America spend hundreds of billions of dollars in financing fossil fuels each year. And ending accounts with them incentivizes an end to fossil fuel financing and decreases the capital that they can use. So there are many ways that you can make an impact. And it doesn't matter how old you are, it doesn't matter where you live. Any one of these ways would significantly make a difference in the climate movement. And if you're interested in getting involved, please don't hesitate. There are so many ways and so many different things that you could do to play a role in the climate movement, including joining any of the wonderful organizations who are present today or making a difference in your local community. So really, that's all I have for you today. But if you have any questions about zero hour again, please feel free to contact me or if you'd like to know more about getting to the roots of climate change. Thank you so much, Diana, for sharing for actually preparing that presentation and also sharing it with us. It was very informative. And I think it needs to be shared with a lot more people. Now we would like to transition to the moderated question and answer section, and then we will be able to open up the floor for the audience. So continuing with the same order of our panelists, I'm going to direct my first question to Marlowe. International cooperation has been one barrier to progress in our journey to reverse environmental damage, just meaning that it's been hard we've seen for various state actors to come up with a single plan of action because of all their diverse interests. So I'm wondering how does Earth Guardians manage to coordinate and coalesce the efforts of over 60 crews worldwide, all with diverse interests and needs? And could you imagine some of those strategies specific to your organization implemented on a political global stage, such as at COP26? Yeah, thanks so much for the question and then apologies for the noise. So, yeah, it's a very hard piece, right? Like trying to organize globally. Earth Guardians, you know, our mission is to train and empower youth leaders at the intersection of the environmental and social justice movement. And, you know, Earth Guardians started about probably about 10 years ago trying to work globally. One of our most engaged continents is actually Africa. We have a regional director in Togo, Africa, who has planted thousands and thousands of trees and is continuing to do such good education and empower network within his own communities. And so what we've found to be the most helpful is, you know, first of all, just make sure we can connect at the right times. And it's kind of funny that that's like the first starting point. But when we have calls and Earth Guardians has something called crews, which is a decentralized network of youth leaders, kind of like zero hours chapters. Pretty similar in that in the sense that you can start a crew, you can use what you're passionate about and then look into your local community and see how you want to tackle these issues. And then Earth Guardians provides you with the tools, resources and connections to support in the best way possible. So that's the first piece. And then, you know, we really try to support the unique circumstances that come up with each individual crew lead. We are really trying to design, especially since COVID, we really stopped and really started to look at like, how can we create more tools and resources to support our youth? What can we create as like trainings, online trainings, which are building an online training platform currently? But then what do we need to do on like an individual basis? And so that's really come into play. And that's why, you know, I felt very called to talk about collaborative and regenerative leadership, because it really starts by just having a conversation and recognizing the needs of each person and recognizing that the way that I'm going to do something in Colorado is not the same way that somebody is going to do it in Togo, Africa or in Germany or in England. And so what we're really trying to do is try to meet on an individual level and then also organize and provide resources that are pretty universal, right? We need to learn how to organize and make partnerships and finance our projects. And so we can create these guides and then we have some follow up conversations so that people can ask the questions that they need to ask and connect with the people who might have better answers than I might do in my own respective kind of position. And so just to kind of finish up with that final part of your question around what does this mean for COP 26? You know, something that I'm seeing and hearing about the negotiations right now is that these, you know, these these developed countries are put that in quotes, because I think that that way of even coining developer developing can be very problematic. But you know, the United States is blocking certain negotiations that really need to be going through. But because of our privilege or power, it's not as supportive. And so what I really hope to see and continue to see is that, you know what? Yes, we need to sequester carbon, but that can't just be a scapegoat for the oil and gas industry to continue to drill and exploit communities. And so what we really need is we need to stop fossil fuel infrastructure. And I love Diana that you brought that up about having to divest from fossil or sorry, divest from banks that are funding fossil fuels in Glasgow right now. I actually walked by the JP Morgan Chase Bank, which is one of the top funders of fossil fuel and fuel infrastructure. And they actually, they have like barricades outside of JP Morgan Chase right now in Glasgow, because activists are targeting it so hard right now. And so anyways, just to like finalize what I'm trying to say and wrap up, really look at the individual basis, but really listen to those who are being the most impacted by the climate crisis, but also not try to put the responsibility on those sort of countries. They're not the ones who are emitting the most CO2. It's the it's the more privileged countries like the United States. And so the United States, whatever we can do with our different various levels of privilege is to support and step back, support those who need that extra support, and then also step up when they need, you know, when the others around us do not have as much privilege, really are tired of speaking up. And that in that moment, this is you know, something that I continue to work on and educate myself in is speaking up when those need support. When they say that thing one too many times, and you're like, you can tell that they're getting tired, because that's emotional labor on their part. And in that moment, if they've shared their story, then I want to continue to read back to them up and say, hey, they need this sort of support. What can I do in my position of power to support them and also make sure that they have more equitable support and resources to support each individual person in their respective space and background. So that's kind of what we're trying to do right now. As you can, you know, I think is what we're all seeing right now is it's all about adapting and being as resilient as possible, as well as trying to support everyone where they're at. So that's the answer to my first question. Hey, thank you. And this question is actually directed towards Dammi. I was actually wondering if you could tell us about any experiences that drove you to found the Youth Sustainable Development Network and the Youth Sustainable Development Conference as a solution and environmental change and injustice. And also, what is your particular role at the COP26? Okay. Thank you very much for the question. And so it's a bit noisy once again. It's just that it's a wall that's in and then we're trying to just make sure everything looks good. So first of all, what drove me to start the Youth Sustainable Development Network? I think for me it was passion for social impact. And two, the fact that I wanted to do something new. I wanted to do something that was new within my community. I'd like to say that. So for me, again, in terms of passion for social impact, I noticed that okay, as a result of the fact that I participated in several youth-led conferences in terms of youth and SGGs, as well as in terms of youth and other model united conferences, I was able to understand world issues because from the part of the world I am from, it's really strange for you to learn about this thing. It's as a result of lack of empowerment and as a result of lack of quality education in the aspect of global affairs. So I was able to participate in some of these conferences. And I saw that actually as young persons, we have huge roles to play when it comes to making the world better. And also, again, I noticed there is a knowledge gap between the Western youth and African youth when it comes to global affairs. And as a result of this, I thought that, okay, it's really going to be nice to start something in this line to address this issue because I mean, a whole lot of persons can get to come, can get to complain about issues. But I think what is most important, as like I always say, is the fact that how are you trying to address what you are not comfortable within your locality and within the global whole. So I thought of it there, okay, it's really going to be nice to start something. And so in 2019, we started the Youth and Youth Development Conference. So that conference strictly was for secondary school students in Lagos. And prior to the conference, it would amaze you that a lot of young persons within Lagos, Nigeria did not know the full meaning of SDGA. It was something that was really, really fascinating for me. And so I thought that it is really important that, first of all, we need to create awareness because I strongly believe that it's only when you create good awareness that you have good implementation because there are less awareness and your quality of implementation with this implementation would not go well because the lack of awareness will still affect the implementation. So for us, we thought, okay, let's create awareness, let's try to educate people in this line. But as I thought again, education is a cornerstone to building something really worthwhile. So we started this, we did it, we actually started something that is not be used to before. We decided to bring them into the SDGs, in groups, but in different schools. So we have school A's, school B's, school C's, mixing up with themselves and of course, getting to understand the sustainable development goals and of course, beginning to think of how they can address some of this solution, how they can actually come up with practical solutions with the help of our facilitators. So what we did at the result of this was to also put it in line with the design thinking style. And what do I mean by this? We tried to analyze it by making them understand the purpose of the SDGs and then taking it down to the aspect of understanding the causes of this problem and taking it up to the line of proposing solutions. And finally, to the line of them presenting. So as a result of what they knowledgeable in terms of in terms of the SDGs, they also became from the sense of other aspects of trying to first think of this as a young person, which includes teamwork, which includes research and which includes communication. So this was actually a mind blowing one. And then at the end of the day, we were glad of this. In 2020, we did the same thing. And then in 2021, because we are really, really content about the fact that we need to take up action. We have the same conference and the conference solution was what transcended into the solar project to the local format as stated earlier. So it was for us one, our next first, then we are moving to implementation. So now we are conveniently looking forward to doing the awareness and of course, doing the implementation, which meaningful impact. And so my role at COP26 so far has been that one major thing I have not to surprise that a lot of young persons are first of all not fully represented. And I've been to some negotiation room, I've been to some plenary, but I can tell you that they are just really less young people talking, which actually makes me wonder that, okay, the point of this whole sustainable development was to move no one beyond. But suddenly, I think a lot of young persons have been left behind. So it's something that I'm trying to get to understand as why young people are not fully represented. And then I'm looking forward to go networking and listen to people that even regardless, if the government is really going to leave the young people behind, I think what more we can get to do by ourselves going a long way. So getting to network, getting to partner with people and getting to see how we can do great things together regardless, assuming the world that are not so close. And I'm glad that is going fast so well. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Demi. This was very encouraging. And I hope that this will encourage others to take a stand other young people and especially people of color to be able to develop an organization as such. But now moving on to Diana. So Diana, I was wondering if you could tell us how you became involved with the climate change movement in zero hour. And also, what are you trying to achieve for COP26 this year? Yes, definitely. So as I mentioned a little earlier in my presentation, I noticed that around me, there were people affected by the disproportionate impacts of climate change. And I thought that it was hurting my community, especially living in a neighborhood in Miami, which is over 90% people of color and Hispanic people. So I think that once I saw that firsthand and once I witnessed natural disasters, such as Hurricane Irma, which happened not not too long ago, when I saw how these natural disasters were not only being exacerbated by the by the climate crisis, but also impacting these minority communities where people weren't able to evacuate, recover or protect themselves from these crimes from this crisis. I saw that I had to do something and play a role in making a difference and making a change in my community. So it was pretty it was fairly easy to get involved, in my opinion, because I didn't even have to look for it. There is a summit going on at the time in Miami that zero hour was hosting. And one of my friends told me to come volunteer. And it took less than five minutes for me for me to become interested in zero hour. And in the topic of climate change, because it was completely fascinating to me, there was a lot of workshops there at the time. And I went to every single one and I tried to learn as much as I could. After that, I followed the organization on social media and I saw that there was an opening for an ambassador position. So I joined that I worked with zero hour for probably a few months as an ambassador until later they had an opening on the national team on finance. From there on, I interviewed and I got the position and about a little less than a year later, I was promoted to director of finance. And I've been working with zero hour for now over the for over a year now. And I absolutely no regrets. It's completely changed my life to meet so many other young individuals that are so passionate about the topic and that have had and have had so many personal experiences, similar to mine and also, you know, like much worse as well that they've seen the direct impact of climate change and that's motivated them to make a difference in their community. I think it's something that we can all share that passion. We can all share the motivation that they feel and we can all, you know, play a role in making a difference. So it's definitely very encouraging. And I don't think that if I if I didn't have the support system that other young activists offered me and like offered me with a place in the movement, I don't think that I would have kept on going and I wouldn't have kept on doing this work. I think that a support system is everything and it keeps me from, you know, being burnt out and, you know, feeling that my work isn't important because of course it isn't, of course, anything that anyone can do to, to, you know, play role in the movement is important. And, you know, it's extremely important, actually. And you also asked me what is one of the most important things I could take from COP 26. And I think that this is already something I've mentioned, fossil fuel divestment. I think that I want to see pledges from global governments that to end fossil fuel subsidies and public financing of fossil fuels. Because every year we see, you know, billions of dollars going into this, this industry and this industry is singlehandedly or sorry, this industry is, you know, very responsible for causing climate change and for causing environments of destruction in many communities. And not only that, but they also violate indigenous sovereignty in many areas. I think that COP 26 is a very important opportunity for governments to, you know, commit to stop putting money towards that. And I wish that that is something that we could see this year at COP 26. You know, I'm, I'm here from far away. And I'm looking forward to see what goes on at the conference this year. All right, thank you so much, Diana. Thank you, everyone. We are going to open the floor up to questions from the audience because you guys have inspired a lot of questions. They aren't directed at anyone in particular. So if you feel comfortable answering or if you have something you want to contribute, feel free to just jump in. So Nautica asks, what climate projects, collaboration sectors or institutions are you most excited slash see the promise with in regards to combating the climate crisis in the coming years? Okay, I guess I'll jump in here. I'd love to hear from my my fellow panelists. Nothing too. Well, of course, there's always something more specific to get into. But a few things that I'm curious to see about, I think, anyways, I think like education, climate education seems like a huge one, because we're if we're educated on the issues and what is actually going on, we're seeing this especially within these climate movement, then we can really call out something that I've been very proud of this, the youth climate movement, especially is that we can see kind of past the BS that some companies will try to share, or try to, you know, greenwash or whatnot. And then the other thing that I'm, you know, I'm really hope, you know, holding out the hope for is also for governments to stop subsidizing fossil fuels, like I'm going to join that, Diane, I'm going to join that with you. That's a huge issue. What I was, you know, what I was also seeing to and within the United States, the Biden administration just released something called the acronym is AIM. I think it stands for agricultural innovation movement or something. And the whole idea is that they're trying to create an industry for more regenerative agriculture. But something I just want everyone to be aware of is there's a lot of pushes for something called net zero. But the issue there is they're trying to create these carbon capture machines and places to draw down carbon out of the atmosphere with not actually stopping or putting in rules to stop more fossil fuel infrastructure. And so I just wanted everyone to be kind of aware that you might hear the word net zero being thrown out a lot. And what we need to be very cautious of is that the fossil fuel industry is still trying to figure out a way to continue business as usual. We're also saying, hey, guys, look how green we are because we're funding local farmers to do, sorry, carbon sequestration. But that doesn't actually stop the issue. So that's one of the issues that I'm watching very closely for, especially with the language around net zero and carbon capture. But I'm really I'm really holding on to hope that we can continue to stop fossil fuel infrastructure, stop subsidizing fossil fuels and for big banks to out of funding fossil fuel infrastructure. So those are a few things that I'm looking out for. And especially those sort of words or language in the media and whatnot. So you need to do your research and yeah, find sources that you can trust to kind of continue to educate yourself on. All right. The next question is from Adam. So he says realistically, how can how can elected officials be incentivized to listen to youth activists who are not yet of voting age? I can go ahead for this question, because I mean, a few years ago, I would say that I had the same question, you know, how can how can we make our opinions clear to elected officials, especially if we're youth and we're not avoiding age voting age? I think that the first time I probably had a conversation like the official was through a school club and we set up a meeting with a representative and we went to our office at the Capitol and we spoke to her in person. And I was really nervous at first. I was like, why would she even listen to us? Why would she care? We had to say, what does our opinion matter to her, especially if we're not the ones voting for her, especially me. I wasn't even part of her district or state. But I mean, it was honestly a fairly honest and interesting conversation. By the end of it, she agreed to sign on to the bill that we were supporting and it went pretty well. It seemed that she was as if she was listening to us. I don't know whether that's true or not. But in terms of how can we make a difference, you know, in conversations with elected officials, it's actually super simple. I think that by just, you know, setting up a meeting with your local elected officials or, you know, making your voice heard, they will end up listening to you. I know so many young people who have held protests, who have held, who have lobbied, who have done the lock-ins at the offices and they're not even a voting age. But I know that by the end of the day, those elected officials were listening to them because they were making their voice heard. So it's not only about will they listen. It's about will you, you know, make an effort to speak up, make an effort to voice your opinions. And the answer to that should definitely be yes. I think that you should always make it clear what you find important to you and to your community. So whether the listening or not, that doesn't matter. It's whether you're making your voice heard. And I think that, again, there are so many methods to do that, whether it's just having a meeting with your elected official, writing an email, making a phone call or, you know, participating in local protests, lobbies, rallies, marches, anything that you'd feel interested in or compiled to do. Great. Thank you so much, Diana. I just wanted to make sure if Dami or Marla wants to chime in on that question or any of the questions previously asked before I move on, you have the time to do so now. I was just going to, yeah, just to like emphasize that point, recognize that again, the micro impacts the macro. So if you start at the local level, whether that's within your city or county, that'll have an impact on the state level and then the national level within my within my work within the United States. I know it's sometimes different in different parts of the world, but just kind of recognizing that you can start at a local level. And that's honestly where you might see the most impact. But then you can you can kind of continue to see that ripple effect. So don't lose hope and politics as one of those places that feels pretty hopeless sometimes, in my personal opinion. But once you continue to see this work, you know, some people are really good at speaking with politicians. And at that point, I really recommend doing that. We need more of that sort of advocacy work when it comes to getting politically engaged and involved. And you do have a voice even if you're not at the age. Yeah, I think I think for me, it's great that the two other panelist that we emphasized on the bottom to the top approach. I think also one we might also consider to compliment this is also the top to the bottom approach. So you know the top direct bottom, right? So in as much as we we want to get to this, our politicians want to get them to do the right thing to involve young people to take action in global development. I think at the end of the day, it is important that we elect responsible leaders. So we we respect we elect leaders that will listen to young persons who have good track record with relationship with young persons. Because of course, as young people that we are, we have strength, we have vision, we have a whole lot to offer. And so it's best that we are involved such that the best of our vision is put into work and then the good result comes out. So the bottom to the top approach excellent top to the bottom approach excellent as well. So I think that's what I have Thank you so much. We appreciate you all's input. The next question is from Ben. He first wants to say thank you all so much for these amazing presentations. And then he asked, what do all of you do for self care and to keep yourselves inspired and prevent burnout in this difficult work? Okay, so can I go? Can I go ahead? Absolutely. Yes. All right. So once again, the question is basically asking, how do you keep the passion burning? Right? All right. Okay, so I think for me, what one way it works for me is I mean, it's not easy. It's never easy. It's a big thing. It takes time. So if you really want to actualize what you want to do, you're really strategic and we're ready to, of course, give it to you all and expect things not to go the way you want to go at some point realistically. So I think for me, it's working with the end in mind. So I already know what I want to be. I already know what our organization to look like in five, two, three, four, seven years. I already know that social impact I'm already planning to make. So strategically, I mean, that's mine. I'm already working with the end in mind. So whatever happens, whatever it is, I mean, it's what it is, you still just have to like keep pushing to make sure that you achieve what you want to achieve. And most times I, I like to use my personal motto, which is to stay relentless. So whatever the situation is, whatever it is, whatever you want to do, I mean, working with the end in mind again, send the view that, okay, you want to achieve this thing and you already have the spiritual. So whatever it takes, you do it that way. And then I think what also makes it fun again, is the fact that you evolve with time. So you have your plan as to how you want to deliver value to, to the planet. And then you meet other persons that are also in that line. And then you get to talk to them, you get to network with them, you get to share ideas. And then you mean just trying different things and make the whole purpose of why you're doing what you do, get achieved is also one way that I use in ensuring that my passion is actually life. So once again, working with the end in mind and meeting and collaborating with the appropriate and necessary person is one. These are like two key things that I knew that that personally works for me. I think that that'll be all for me. Yeah, I really, really appreciate this question because I think it's a huge piece of activism work that we don't talk about, which is actually the rest and the self care and the self keeping practices that we're doing to actually continue to be able to do this work. And for anybody out there who's beginning on their activist journey, or if you have, you know, begun to be an advocate or do this sort of work. I hope you need support on, you know, rest. Please, I just encourage everyone to rest because we can't go at an unsustainable rate of organizing in actions and showing up if you feel exhausted at the end of the day. And so that's honestly why I always start with go take a deep breath when you feel overwhelmed, connect with your why, spend time with nature, whatever that means to you because honestly, there's such a there's such a kind of colonial way of looking at things that are where that we're disconnected from the earth, when in reality, we are a part of the earth and nature. So if that means going outside and feeling the breeze on your face, if it's by sitting by running water, or going by tree or spending time even with your pets or animals, that honestly recharges me because it's like, all of a sudden, the little things become so important and impactful. It could just be like a leaf on the sidewalk that I noticed. And how beautiful it is, like how amazing and symbolic like one little leaf is like that's such a beautiful process that was on a tree, it had to grow. And now here it is on the ground. And what an amazing process it is that I've now be composted and redistributed. Or it's spending time with my pet. I mean, like that moment where you're like, you know, your animals like purring or like saying hello to you. It's like really, really special. So really learn how to rest because that's when you're going to actually connect really deep into why they're doing this work. And that's where you're going to begin to find a place to sustain your work and creating a better world. So make sure to rest, make sure to build that into your routine and recognize that you're probably going to do a lot of really good action in small amounts of time. So maybe like a two hour window and then go take care of yourself. Do stuff that recharges you. Don't forget to do that because that is sometimes the most impactful part of the work that you're actually going to do. I'll also add on briefly. As I mentioned earlier that doing this kind of work is almost impossible without a support system. People that have that share the same passion as you share the same beliefs and are motivated to continue doing that work. It's everything. And it will help you a lot to avoid, you know, not being able to continue and burnout. Wait, I feel like I had the word on the tip of my tongue and I lost it. But but yeah, I think it's very important. I also think it's very important to ask for help when you need it and to not feel as though you're you know, solely responsible for everything and that, you know, burden yourself with a heavy workload. It's always, you know, important to ask for help to ask your peers and those who work with you or those who share the same passions and interests with you. I also agree with what Marlowe was saying about connecting with nature. It's really easy to to work in the climate movement and to begin to feel climate anxiety and to, you know, be scared of all these things that are happening happening around you and to your community. But at the same time, you know, taking some time to connect with nature and to remember all the great, you know, what you're grateful for in life and all the blessings that you have around you, especially in terms of nature. I think it's really important and it will, you know, motivate you to continue and give you and help you find purpose in the work that you're doing. Thank you, Diana. To move on to the next question, this is from Wendy. She wanted to know what are concrete ways in which youth from developed countries can support youth in more vulnerable positions in developing countries. And she also wanted to know what kind of spaces are needed and what steps can be taken to prioritize their needs. Can I go ahead? I think. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, I believe you cut off a little bit. I can hear you now. Thank you. So I think in. I think one major way is in terms of collaboration, most often the greatest ideas and the best of things that imagine life come out of collaboration. So I think collaboration is a long road. So first, once again, I think it's a sustainable development of strategy for us is collaboration. So in answering this, I think collaboration with which you've led initiative organizations generally countries would go a long way in terms of advocacy, in terms of research, in terms of operation would go a really long way in supporting your young persons within this within this space. Because of course that way you're able to get that diverse view and you're able to get different persons from different parts. Are you able to have access to enough human resources and delivering what you want to deliver? And so also as well, prioritize the youth in this space would be that you carefully or you carefully, you carefully look at how you intend to support and in terms of what you primarily need and which you can actually support in terms of maybe your research skill or in terms of maybe you have any or maybe just rather anything that really goes. So I think that that's just collaboration and then bringing your skill on board to match up whatever distance developing countries have would go a long way in supporting them. Any of the other panelists have anything to include? Just coming from my perspective, as somebody who continues to try to learn and engage in allyship work, there's two things that I really think are very, very important. One is to step back, especially when you're in a room or space with people whose stories really need to be heard above your own and really provide them with this space and honestly support them. Because sometimes you just have to give them a little nudge and say, like, please speak, like, are we we need to hear your story or checking with them beforehand and see how you can support them. And then in those moments, again, like, I don't know if you'll have ever witnessed this, but sometimes you're in a conversation with an adult, for example, and you're with, like, your fellow youth or in the classroom and somebody shares their experience and it's made what possibly the adult is comfortable with or youth who you can see, obviously has more privileges than the other person. And sometimes in that moment, you really just have to back up what that person is saying or say or restate what that person's needs are. And that really, really helps because you are helping your fellow youth leaders. And that's like a one to one connection that you really see almost instantaneously. So it's a very interesting balance and it's a very delicate line. And in some moments, it's really great to speak up and other times it's just about stepping back so that those who really need to do this, you know, to share their stories or to get, you know, that interview or get this opportunity, whatever it is, do what you can to support them and provide them with what you can give and really think about like, what are my passions? Can I mentor this person? Can I uplift what they're doing in their work and then move on from there just to see when you can speak up or have a personal conversation with them and, you know, again, provide them with with what they need. But that's something that I've continued to really, really show up for and always continue to be open to feedback and be willing to listen. That's a huge piece, too. It's just listening to those around you to hear their experiences and stories. Thank you. And Diana, did you have anything to include before we move on to the next question? I'm actually having some technical difficulties. I was trying to reconnect to the audio. I apologize for that. But you can go ahead and move on. OK. OK. So we're starting to run a little low on time. So we are going to wrap it up with a final question. I first want to say that you all have offered so much valuable information over the course of this talk. So we sort of combined two questions from our attendees, Madeleine and Raven. They noted that a really common difficulty in climate activism is the polarization and arguing about scientific knowledge and the fact that knowledge is not always displayed in an accessible way and it can be difficult for people who haven't experienced the effects first hand to really understand. So they're wondering what sort of methods have you found to make climate communication easier or to increase urgency for people who downplay these issues and how can we improve the communication and education about and within communities that experience environmental justice or injustices and racism. And I think that we should just continue in the order that we started because we'd like to hear from all of you. So Marla, if you want to begin. Sure. So in the moments when you are having, honestly, maybe a new conversation with somebody that you just met or someone that's being a little bit difficult, I also want to recognize that your energy is precious. So if you begin to engage in a conversation and it feels like it's really not going anywhere, ask yourself in that moment, do I have the space or capacity to listen to the person in front of me to really hear why they what the need is what their experience is for why they don't want to listen to what you have to say. And if you don't have that capacity, then that's OK. And you can just probably at some point to lightly change the conversation or move on. So that's just like one thing that I really want to know. And then the other thing too is recognize. And this is why I was sharing some effective communication tools, because the first step to connecting with people is connecting to something within their own personal experience. So again, if you can ask them like, hey, like, do you know about the climate crisis? Or maybe they say like, why did you say that one thing? You can kind of turn it back to them and say, like, well, what's your kind of opinion on blah, blah, blah? Because if you know the person, you know if they're, you know, interested, let's see. For example, within my with my grandfather, he grew up in England. We had this very interesting conversation around climate, the climate crisis at one point. And I was able to connect it with growing like when he was younger, he remembers growing fresh vegetables with his grandma and grandpa. And so what I connected with him is like, yeah, well, in community garden spaces, that's such a great place to not only, you know, create better nutrients, but it also has such an impact on our mental well-being and health. So think about that when we are picking up our vegetables from the grocery store, like really thinking about where they're coming from and how they're being sourced. And then we were able to kind of move into a place about talking about it and equity even in our food systems. And it's very interesting because I saw him as a climate denier then, but then prior to my trip to Glasgow, I called him because they were expecting me to come visit before this trip happened. And he said, Marlo, I'm so proud of you and the work that you're doing. Can I post on this about this on Facebook and tell everybody that you're going to you're going to the climate conferences and that you're going to be there with Greta. Like for some reason, he was really excited that Greta was also going to be here. And it just was really interesting that if he went from full on pushing back denial to me being able to somehow connect with him. In a few different conversations had sparked this seed of of admiration and that really, really like touched my heart because he doesn't have the same views as me, but that he has like pride for what I've done and the accomplishments that I that I have made means that he's thinking about it, he's thinking about it differently. So remember, one conversation can possibly change someone's views forever. It just might not feel that way directly after. Thank you so much for that question. I'll just go on second. But for me, what one measure being the standard of the fact that in addressing the issue of climate change on the climate action agenda really, I think there are different aspects to it. So in terms of communication, in terms of reaching out to people, I think one major way is coming through their interest, making them understand that even as a fubola, even as an actress, even as even as a lawyer, even as a policy analyst or anything, we can actually pass the message with whatever you do. So I think I think strongly that OK, advocacy is good. I think strongly about research is good. I think that also putting in action to be the only answer. So basically just channeling the communication, telling them that OK, you can actually be part of this in whatever step, whatever profession, whatever thing you find yourself doing goes a long way. Because at the end of the day, it's a main agenda. The agenda is to stop climate change. The agenda is to achievement there. So I think that the main way to achieve all of these things really doesn't matter. What really matters is the end in mind. So my my my just just just like my general advice in my general course to action really is that whatever you're doing, whatever you are, you can as well just make anyone get interested in this and whatever profession they're doing. So it's really, it's really not a big deal in whatever in whatever way you look at it. What matters is achieving the old climate agenda. Thank you, guys. Diana, if you want to finish us off. Definitely. So I think in terms of communicating with others about climate information, especially others that don't necessarily agree, I think that it's important to remember that it's not only about a difference of opinion. Sometimes it's about accessibility to information. So climate information in general, a scientific knowledge or any sort of information about the climate crisis isn't always completely accessible to people. This might be because of language barriers, for example. So people people whose native language is in English don't always have access to every single climate document that you may have read yourself or that you may, you know, no information from. And on top of that, just general like educational barriers, such as, you know, maybe the document is using scientific language or language relative to the climate crisis. People who don't have the same level of the same level of knowledge that's being used in that paper or document. Those people might not be able to comprehend or process that information. So it's not always just a difference of opinion situation. It's always it's also understanding, you know, where that person is coming from. Like if they do have accessibility to that information, I know personally I don't always share the same views as my parents, but I also have to remember that, you know, I grew up in this country where the climate crisis has always been, you know, something that's affecting us. I mean, of course, it's affecting other places around the world, but I'm just saying that it's something that's talked about here. You know, sometimes in school, sometimes with your peers, sometimes with, you know, people and organizations. And I think that I've always had accessible information. I've always been able to just do a Google search for something that I'm a topic that I'm interested in and find information on it. But then I remember that, you know, 20 years ago when my parents were living in Cuba, the climate crisis wasn't the first thing on their mind. It wasn't their first priority. They weren't worrying about it because they had other things to worry about in that country. And they also didn't have access to just do a simple Google search and they didn't have access to all these documents and they weren't learning English in their schools. So obviously it's not something that, you know, was a top priority for them. But I think that once we began to have conversations together and I shared the information that I had access to and I tried my best to translate that and to help them understand that, I think that we've been able to come to a better understanding now. So I think that it's just important to look at things from every perspective. Wow, thank you so much for the great discussion. We are already at the time, but I would really like to thank the panelists for sharing your experiences, the organizers of this conference and everybody for the great questions today. Please give the virtual round of applause to these youth activists that are tackling the climate crisis every single day. And thank you, Kayla and Marlon for moderating the panel. I'm so sorry there were quite a few more questions that we couldn't get to, but that really shows what a rich discussion we had. And thank you Delaney from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Leah Thomas from Emory Climate Talks for doing all the work behind the scenes as well. The Zero Emission Solutions Conference continues and I hope that you will come back again and especially for another session with Emory Climate Talks on food waste and on our digestion tomorrow. So thank you so much everyone. Enjoy the COP26 whether in person or virtual and let's continue pushing for climate action. Stay safe and thank you everybody.