Letter to Climate Change Educators
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) starts today in Poland! About 200 countries from around the world will be attending to:
- adopt the guidelines for how the Paris Agreement will be implemented;
- signal that nations will strengthen their climate commitments by 2020, particularly given the IPCC’s assessment of 1.5°C; and
- maintain trust and good faith that access, provision, and accounting of finance will be enhanced.
Along with leaders from those countries, Climate Generation is sending four Minnesota business leaders who will bring their expertise to the conference and reflect through blogs and webinars. Sign up here for COP24 updates.
Are you following along with your students? Download our brand new COP Toolkit that offers background information and a progression of activities to provide students with a global understanding of the problem of climate change and international mechanisms that have been developed to tackle climate change. You can also join the Climate Literacy Network’s webinar on December 11th to hear from School of Environmental Studies students attending COP24.
The release of the 4th National Climate Assessment last week reiterated what we already know about the impacts of climate change; they’re impacting us now. The heavy contents of the report are nothing new to us, yet we know this work requires taking time to acknowledge the challenge we are facing and recharge as we continue to work on solutions. The work of many nations as well as the initiatives of states, businesses, universities, and leaders like yourself are crucial to keep Earth’s warming to less than 1.5ºC. We are motivated by the work you do in your communities, classrooms, and spheres of influence.
[bctt tweet=”I’m following #climate action and U.S. leadership at COP24 with @climategenorg! #MNCOP24″]
Jenna Totz
Climate Change Education Manager
Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy
Climate Generation Happenings
Follow Window into COP24
We’re sending four Minnesota business leaders to the UN’s Climate Change Conference in Katowice, Poland! Sign up to follow our Window Into COP24 digest from December 3–14 to experience the negotiations, straight from your inbox. Webinars, daily blogs, and easy-to-read summaries of international climate policy progress and commitments will give you access to global climate change action!
Meet up with us in D.C.!
We’re so excited to take our Summer Institute for Climate Change Education to Washington D.C. August 5-7 in partnership with the Lowell School. Stay tuned for updates on amazing keynotes and an exciting field trip the third day that highlights climate solutions in the D.C. area.
Welcome to Megan
Climate Generation is excited to announce that we are doubling the capacity of our K-12 climate change education program, thanks to support from Avangrid Foundation! Megan Van Loh, previously our Senior Programs Coordinator, will be shifting her focus to K-12 as our new Education Coordinator. Megan has been with Climate Generation for six years and has supported our Education team for many years, including coordinating our Summer Institute and presenting and exhibiting at education conferences. With Megan’s help we will be taking our Summer Institute out of state for the first time! See you soon, Washington D.C.! We are thrilled to welcome Megan to this new position.
Humanities Resources
We are excited to announce that we have launched several new humanities-based resources. You can now download—for free—Climate Fiction and Other Important Readings to Support Climate Change Education. This document is a reading guide for educators to bring climate change literature to their students of all ages. Click here to download this resource and see the other humanities resources being released next year.
#TeachClimate Network
Join the #TeachClimate Network to share challenges and successes of implementing climate change education, discuss climate change fiction (cli-fi) books, and talk to other educators from around the country. We meet monthly online via Zoom. Join us on Tuesday, December 18th when we discuss A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.
Resources
Climate Change and Wildfires
Equally terrifying and fascinating, wildfires are also surprisingly complicated. There is so much written about them these days that it can be hard to know where to turn for good information. Here are some thorough, informative, and engaging articles about them from the last few years, ordered so you can choose your focus.
Project Green Schools
Aligning with our work to connect educators and students to solutions, Project Green Schools is develops the next generation of environmental leaders through education, project-based learning, and community service. Their Green Schools Society (grades K-12) and National Youth Council (grades 5-12) honors and develops bright, civic-minded, environmentally-literate citizens in schools and communities. Find out more about their programs and partnerships at www.projectgreenschools.org.
What We’re Reading
We’re reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park for our next #TeachClimate Network meeting on Tuesday, December 18th.
Stories from the Field
Climate change connections in Game of Thrones blog
We Rise blog by Heidi Auel, #TeachClimate Network Educator
Moment of Inspiration
Dear Matafele Peinem
On September 23, 2014, 26-year-old poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner from the Marshall Islands addressed the Opening Ceremony of the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit. Kathy performed a new poem entitled “Dear Matafele Peinem”, written to her daughter. The poem received a standing ovation. Kathy is also a teacher, journalist, and founder of the environmental NGO, Jo-jikum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJuRjy9k7GA
COP21 Education Ambassador Reflections
Check out 10 short clips of educators that attended COP21 (UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015) as they reflect on their experiences learning about climate change and the international negotiations.