From 25-27 May, 7 UNESCO Green Citizens project owners were present at this year’s ChangeNOW summit. The event provided an opportunity to highlight inspiring, innovative, and replicable citizens projects all over the world working for the preservation of the environment.
Among them, some projects had booths to showcase their activities and exchange directly with participants, while others took part in discussions and shared their experiences about subjects at the very heart of environmental issues. The Saathi project had a booth introducing its biodegradable hygiene products, as did Bare Necessities, which showcased its zero waste products. The Energy Observers project presented a model of its hydrogen ship and its new sustainable and affordable energy innovations. Through the form of workshops, 2tonnes demonstrated how their project raises awareness about reducing carbon footprints.
No more excuses, no more delays, no more broken promises, no more lies, no more new fossil fuels.
Several projects spoke at conferences and pitches organized over the three days. Vanessa Nakate, founder of the Rise Up movement and the Vash Green Schools project, spoke on the theme of climate justice. According to her, everyone has the power to engage and act. Teachers, journalists or citizens, everyone can make a difference. She hopes that the loss and damage financial mechanism that emerged during the last COP 27 will help accelerate climate justice.
Wherever you are in the world, you can impact people with important messages. My message to Paris today is: change is coming. It's so important to make the invisible visible. Let's see the impact of our actions.
Titouan Bernicot, founder of Coral Gardeners, also spoke at a conference entitled “Making the ocean visible”. At 16 years old, Titouan decided to get involved when he noticed the degradation of coral reefs and the general lack of knowledge about marine life. He recalled the importance of preserving coral reefs which are home to nearly 1/4 of marine life, and which will, according to scientists, be fatally endangered if nothing is done to protect them by 2050.. In a hopeful speech, Titouan underlined the significant power we all hold as individuals, to act at our own scale. Change will only be made possible if we are collectively aware of the positive impact we can have on our ecosystems.
Ana Rosa, the founder of Meli Network, spoke during a pitch to present the work of her organization and discuss the implications for indigenous people. This project aims to involve local communities in order to create an impactful network that supports activities such as agroforestry and beekeeping.
The project owners also had the opportunity to meet during a time of exchange organized at the UNESCO Green Citizens booth. Participating in ChangeNOW was an opportunity for UNESCO Green Citizens projects to be a part of a large ecosystem of inspiring and committed actors while gaining visibility on their own actions. The projects expressed several positive impacts they’ve seen since integrating into the UNESCO Green Citizens initiative:
Energy Observers: “UNESCO Green Citizens shows that there are solutions and has been an important source of information for us. It’s a great initiative that gives us visibility”
Bare Necessities: “UNESCO Green Citizens allowed us to benefit from a significant leverage effect in supporting our project. It also allowed us to bring more people on board with us and to gain visibility”
2tonnes: “UNESCO Green Citizens creates a real unifying link between the projects, the initiative has allowed us to enter a community of committed actors. We plan in the future, thanks to UGC, to develop volunteering opportunities within our project”.
Finally, our communications partner Snowball Effect held an immersive event during the summit. This took the form of an exhibition showcasing initiatives from around the world which provide solutions to environmental and societal issues. Thanks to our partnership, 4 UNESCO Green Citizens projects were highlighted: Liter of Light, The Great Bubble Barrier, Flip Flopi and River Cleanup. Visitors could follow a QR code to find out more about each project.
The UNESCO Green Citizens team was grateful to have this moment to raise awareness about the initiative and all the projects it highlights. Overall, our main takeaway from the event was that we should stop seeing climate change as something of the future, but something that is happening now. It’s already happening in most countries in the world, and soon it will reach all of us. That’s why the voices of citizens, especially those on the frontlines, are so crucial in this fight to protect our planet.
