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Abstract |
Without the voice of climate youth, there may no longer be a livable planet tomorrow. Yet as green-washing rhetoric and practices run increasingly rampant, could climate youth, once ever-so confident and passionate, give in to despair and become cynical “climate lay-flatters”? Could some even go with the flow by joining the green-washing business? Could climate actions that grow solely out of anxiety, anger, fear, panic, and guilt serve to impede rather than facilitate climate mitigation? After one bad climate news after another, day after day, and repeated frustrations in the struggle of our movement, how can we tend to our feelings and emotions with mindfulness and regain strength to continue on? Clover Hogan, founder of Force of Nature, started her climate activism at the age of eleven. By sharing her story as a climate activist, she wishes to help all activists, young and old, to regain strength to march on. She would also share skills and strategies for bringing out the potential and creativity of climate youth, as well as her experiences of organizing Climate Café.
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Speaker's Short Intro. |
Australia-born Clover Hogan became an environmental activist at the age of 11. At 16, she flew to Paris to attend the historical climate summit, COP21. It was an eye-opening experience: she witnessed how Big Oil, bankers and governments of rich countries, would use the venue to greenwash, unapologetically, at a critical moment of our civilization. As the very rich and powerful continue to wreck the planet, eco-anxiety has become increasingly common among young people. Seeing its debilitating effect, Hogan founded Force of Nature at 19 to help turning anxiety into agency.
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