A recent study of Canadian youth shows that nearly 80 percent of 16-26 year-olds surveyed say that climate change affects their overall mental health, and 40 per cent say it takes a daily toll on their well-being. Sixty four percent think that their government is not doing enough to avoid climate catastrophe. Most young people know that the climate crisis is coming for them but they feel powerless, uncertain and ill-prepared to face their future.
(The following is sourced from the Climate Emergency Unit and Climate Youth Corps materials.)
Youth Climate Corps
“Most young people know — and as driven home yet again by Monday’s IPCC report — the climate crisis is coming for them,” wrote Seth Klein in his recent opinion piece in the National Observer. “One way or another, on their terms or not, it’s going to enlist them. It won’t ask their permission.”
Climate mobilization in Canada has yet to feel like a grand societal undertaking. The Youth Climate Corps is an invitation to the country’s youth to mobilize to confront today’s gravest threat: the climate emergency. The Youth Climate Corps could be a flagship and transformative new public program, signalling to young people and society at large that we are genuinely in climate emergency mode.
There are roughly 10 million people in Canada between the ages of 18 and 35. If only five per cent of them were moved to enlist in a program like the YCC, that’s 500,000 people — half a million young people saying, “We are ready to serve, ready to meet the emergency.” That’s what makes this idea a game-changer.
Our vision is a government-funded program that can say to every person under 35 years of age: if you understand that we face a climate emergency, you desire to meet this generational challenge now, and are ready to serve, then we have a place for you. The Youth Climate Corps would be both a call to service and an opportunity to train in the jobs of the future. Download the policy brief to find out more. — Source: Youth Climate Corps website
Download the Policy Brief
Check out this 2-minute video on why Canada needs a Youth Climate Corps.
Climate Emergency Unit
March 7 2023
Climate change will be the defining issue facing today’s youth, with profound consequences for their futures, families, communities and careers. How we confront the largest collective action puzzle of human existence will be the story of their lives. We would do well to fully enlist them in the challenge as soon as possible. — the Policy Brief
“Our world needs climate action on all fronts, everything, everywhere, all at once.” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
ICYMI:
Canada At War With the Climate Crisis
Locking Out Carbon Lock-In
The 440 Megatonnes Emissions Reduction Tracker
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