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Just and Abundant World

Thank you for signing Climate Generation’s Just and Abundant World Pledge! We are so excited that you are joining our community of practice as we work together to co-create a world beyond the climate crisis.

Navigating This Webpage 

This webpage is meant to be a resource that you can come back to again and again for information and ideas as you work to dismantle the systems perpetuating the climate crisis. As such, we recommend that you start with the Intention Setting section (to keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed) and then skip to the different pledge sections that you want to work on. 

Pledge Sections

Together we can make a better world! 

Working on climate change can be overwhelming. To help combat this, based on your pledge, write one small actionable item that you hope to accomplish in the near future to help start you on your journey. Give yourself a timeline for this intention and put it somewhere visible (your fridge, your phone, etc).  

Example: I, [name], commit to helping create a more just and abundant world by accomplishing [x] by [x] date. Some steps I will take to accomplish this include… Some people and resources that will support me in accomplishing this are…

When you accomplish this action we invite you to share with us on social media using the hashtag #AbundantWorld so that we can celebrate with you! And, if this works for you, come back and set a new intention.

Climate change is complicated, often overwhelming, and hard to conceptualize, but sharing our climate story is a powerful antidote and something we can all do. Sharing personal stories can place facts into the context of our lives as well as help us understand and empathize with others. It can also help us see where we are now, envision the future we want, and find the path there! 

Stories can come in many forms (article, poem, song, video, dance, photography, art, conversation) and you may find your story evolves in different situations, depending on your audience, message, and medium. Our Discover Your Climate Story page is a great way to get started, providing prompts and tips for creating your story.

Just like there are many ways to tell your story, there are also many ways to share it. So we have included some ideas for different ways to share and resources to help make sharing a bit easier. 

Listening to others’ stories (especially stories from frontline communities who are currently facing and actively working against the impacts and causes of climate change) can help us gain greater clarity about the climate crisis and understand how we might work together to combat it. 

Below we have put together a fantastic starter selection of stories; but we also recommend you tune into the world and people around you. Climate stories are everywhere when you are listening!

In addition to these stories, publications like the Climate Generation Blog, Talk Climate Digest, Atmos, Grist, and Yale Climate Connections are great places to connect to the ongoing story of the broader climate movement. 

The Systems
Climate change is a result of the systems that prioritize some lives over others to obtain and maintain power for a few using the tools of colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy culture, and environmental racism. To start understanding how these systems perpetuate the climate crisis, check out “Racism Is Killing the Planet” by Hop Hopkins, “It’s all Interconnected” by Susan Phillips, and this curated list of “Top 10 Books On Environmental Racism” by Isaias Hernandez. 

These may seem like overwhelming and inevitable forces, but they are not! They are systems put in place by humans that can also be undone by humans. 

Climate Justice 
Taking on climate change through a lens that recognizes the role of these systems is called climate justice. Our first step in dismantling these systems is learning to understand how we and others participate in and are influenced by them. This means centering and listening to frontline voices especially when it comes to decision-making and solution-creation. For national climate justice initiatives, check out the Climate Justice Alliance and the Sunrise Movement. 

Intersectionality
Many of the other societal issues that we face today (stemming from these same causes) are exacerbated by the climate crisis. These include, but are not limited to, the prison industrial complex, reproductive health, mental health, and the disenfranchisement of queer, disabled, and BIPOC communities. Understanding intersectional environmentalism (intersectional history of U.S. environmentalism) allows us to come together, better understand each of these issues, and take them on as a collective. Check out the Intersectional Environmentalist Instagram and website for more up-to-date news, think pieces, and toolkits.   

Localizing Climate & Environmental Justice
In addition to learning about these broader concepts, it is also critical to gain a tangible understanding and put our knowledge into action. This means learning about how these broader issues impact our local communities. 

Climate Generation is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, so below we give some examples of how climate justice impacts and interacts with our local community. After checking out our examples, try finding three for your own community and see if there are any ongoing groups that you can get involved with around similar issues. 

Climate & Environmental Justice in Minnesota
The concept of climate justice may seem abstract or far away, but personal narratives from neighbors like Bob Blake and Jose Alvillar, articles like “COVID-19, Structural Racism, and Environmental Injustice,” and tools such as the EPA’s EJScreen mapping tool can help us localize and conceptualize these issues. We invite you to use the EJScreen to find the EJ index that most impacts, and the closest superfund site, to your community. 

There are currently several environmental justice initiatives across the state of Minnesota that you can learn about and support including:

Support Climate Justice Education in Minnesota
Youth from Climate Generation’s Youth Environmental Activists (YEA!) program worked with state legislators to craft a Climate Justice Education Bill. Although it has yet to pass, YEA! youth continue to steward this bill in the state legislature. Join our youth and policy teams as they work to push this bill across the finish line. 

Sign up for action alerts

Join the campaign to shut down the HERC
The HERC is a large trash incinerator owned by Hennepin County and located in North Minneapolis. Long past its original shutdown date, this trash burner emits several toxic pollutants into the surrounding air and environment, impacting the mostly BIPOC and low-income residents in that community. Sign the petition to shut down the HERC.

Corporations would like us to believe that the world will be saved, or not, based on the actions of individuals. This is simply not true. Corporations by far are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases (visualization). However, that does not mean that we can’t or shouldn’t take individual action. We just have to make sure those actions align with the world we want to create (not a corporate greenwashed agenda) and that they are not being co-opted to shift responsibility away from those who need to take the most action. 

Below are some individual action steps that you can take if they are a meaningful way of living into the world that you want to see – also check out the Drawdown Solutions Library for additional individual and collective actions. 

Talk to more people about climate change 
This simple action can have a huge impact! If you are just getting started, check out “How to talk about climate change: Ask questions,” and Hennepin County’s guide to climate conversations. Climate Conversations also has a free card game to help you get talking about climate! If you enjoy communicating with others about the climate crisis, consider diving into deep canvassing through a Deep Canvas Institute training and using your talents to support a local campaign. 

Talking to kids about climate? Check out these tips, this climate coloring book, NASA’a Climate Kids, The World Is Ours to Cherish: A Letter to a Child, and Climate Generation’s Climate Fiction and Non-fiction Reading Guide for places to start. 

Engage in the political system
Above all, make sure you are registered to vote, add election day to your calendar, and vote early if you think that you will have a conflict! If you want to help others exercise their right to vote, become an election worker – which is a paid position, and your workplace is required to give you the day off to participate. 

Beyond election day, it is critical that we engage with the political system year-round, keeping up to date on issues that we care about, sharing our voice through public comment, hearings, and town halls, and directly communicating with our elected officials. Find your elected officials and their contact information. Often people focus solely on national politics but don’t forget your local government makes many important decisions too!

If you want to stay up to date with Climate Generation’s policy campaigns, sign up for our action alerts!

Take action around your home 
There are a myriad of ways to live out climate values in your home from reducing your waste, eliminating plastic, composting, improving your home’s energy efficiency, growing your own food, or purchasing from local sources (MN CSA directory), and switching from lawns to native pollinator gardens! 

Find a sustainable mode of transportation 
There are many forms of alternative transportation from public transportation, to biking (you can also donate your unused bikes), to electric car share programs. Even if being car-free is not something you can do at the moment, supporting campaigns for walkable cities and bike paths in your neighborhood are also great ways to make a difference!

Reduce your consumption 
Knowing that there is already plenty of stuff in the world, we need to be able to fix our own things (support people’s right to fix through MN’s right to repair campaign) and get the things we need in a more sustainable manner. Hennepin County’s Fix it clinics and IFIXIT’s online repair guides are both great places to start when it comes to learning how to fix and care for the stuff that you already have. 

When it comes to acquiring something you need that you don’t already have, check out access over ownership programs such as the Minnesota Tool Library and the Minneapolis Toy Library. Purchasing second-hand and joining the gift economy through your local buy-nothing group are also both great options. And of course, don’t forget the 5 Rs!

Move with compassion in the midst of climate grief and burnout 
It is really important to remember that this work is hard and we can’t do it alone! One of the most important factors in how much impact we can have is whether or not we are able to put in consistent long-term effort. This means taking care of ourselves, recognizing that what we are working on can be emotionally draining. 

As such we encourage you to check out some of these resources and practices around climate grief, burnout, support, and resistance.

You do not have to act alone! You can also be the catalyst for the co-creation of climate solutions within your community.  

Create change through your school
From solar for schools, to electric buses, to supporting climate justice education legislation written by Minnesota youth, there are many ways to make your school a climate solution! 

For teachers looking for more resources, learn how to become a climate change educator (no matter your subject or grade level) check out Climate Generation’s Teach Climate Network and curriculum resources, as well as other toolkits and curricula from Kidwind and Rural Renewable Energy Alliance (RREAL), NOAA, and the CLEAN network.

If you are a youth, consider joining Climate Generation’s Youth Environmental Activists! (YEA!) (How do I become a youth activist?) or starting or joining your school’s green club!

Create change through your church 
If you are involved in your faith community you may want to connect with Interfaith Power and Light (find your state affiliate) and see how they can support your faith community in becoming a Climate Justice Congregation. 

Create change through your city and state
Our local municipalities are great levers for change. Cities have the opportunities to write ordinances and fund programs that can impact things like electric vehicle infrastructure, development (15 min cities), and land use (urban forests and green spaces), all of which can come together in a city’s climate action plan. 

Further, cities can put pressure on the state by declaring a climate emergency and advocating for change in areas like building codes (which could have a huge impact on climate). 

Programs like Green Step Cities, which guides cities through different actions they can take on climate, and Clean Energy Resource Teams, which helps municipalities take on clean energy projects, are both fantastic resources.

Actions like these happen when people who care (like you) reach out to their local officials and  share their hopes, request action, and provide resources. 

Create change through your farm  
Farmers not only supply us with the food that we need to live, they can also have a huge impact on the environment depending on how they grow that food. If you are a farmer looking for ways to have an impact, both the Land Stewardship Project and Clean Energy Resource Teams are great resources. 

All of the following organizations are doing fantastic work in Minnesota and across the country around climate justice. If you have the means to make a donation, voting with your dollar is a great way to make an impact.

Thank you so much for coming on this journey with us to co-create a just and abundant world! We really hope that you found something that inspired you! If you have any questions or you want to get more involved feel free to reach out (info@climategen.org). And, of course, don’t forget to share this resource with friends and family!