World’s Youth Invited to Present to U.N. Climate Summit

Former Vice President of the United States Al Gore is supporting the United Nations by urging young people across the globe to demand world leaders act on climate change as part of the new Why? Why Not? campaign. The initiative, led by The Climate Reality Project, aims to make climate change a leading voting issue in the world and build support for a binding international agreement on greenhouse gas reductions at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015.

The global campaign, launching today, asks young people to challenge their leaders and make a positive difference for the future of the planet by asking two simple questions about how we respond to climate change today – and how we could tomorrow: “Why?” and “Why not?”

“Climate change is the number-one issue facing humanity today and should be acknowledged as such by our leaders. It is important for the future of our children to ask world leaders “Why?” and “Why not?” and drive our elected officials to act on climate change,” said Al Gore, Chairman of The Climate Reality Project.

The campaign will work to recruit young people from around the world, aged between 13 and 21, to be the voices of the generation with the most to lose from the effects of climate change. The campaign will launch a contest inviting young people to film a short video asking leaders a “Why?” or “Why not?” question on climate change and solutions. Although a global campaign, Why? Why Not? will be activated in target countries critical to the international climate change agreement process including Australia, Canada, China, Brazil, India, Philippines and the USA.

The creators of the six best submissions will be flown to New York to attend the Climate Summit on 23rd September and be part of a multimedia presentation to world leaders calling for action and ambition on climate change. The deadline for video submissions is September 8, 2014.

The campaign will continue to build momentum leading up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris in December 2015, with the aim of creating overwhelming public support for a global agreement on greenhouse gas reductions and climate action.

People can show their support for the global Why? Why Not? campaign by joining the community online at climaterealityproject.org, following @ClimateReality, or visiting Climate Reality on Facebook and Google+.

For information on how to create and submit a short “Why?” or “Why not?” video, please go to: http://www.askwhywhynot.org/

ENDS

The Climate Reality Project is one of the world’s leading organizations dedicated to mobilizing action around climate change. With a global movement more than 5 million strong and a grassroots network of trained Climate Reality Leaders, we are spreading the truth of the climate crisis to communities everywhere and creating cultural momentum to solve it. Former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore is the Founder and Chairman of The Climate Reality Project. For more information, visit www.climaterealityproject.org or follow us on Twitter at @ClimateReality.

For enquiries about the Why? Why Not? campaign please contact:
[email protected], or +61 2 9818 0915

For enquiries about The Climate Reality Project please contact:
[email protected]