06 / Movements
From individual voices to global movements.
Youth activism grows when personal action becomes organized pressure.
Fridays for Future
- Started from Greta Thunberg’s 2018 school strike.
- Youth-led global climate strike movement.
- Uses school strikes, global protest days, and digital campaigns.
- Pushes leaders toward science-based climate action.
Sources: Fridays for Future, “Who We Are”; Fridays for Future, “Our Demands”
Sunrise Movement
- U.S.-based youth climate movement.
- Connects climate action with economic and racial justice.
- Pushes for Green New Deal-scale policy.
- Uses direct action, electoral organizing, and movement-building.
Sources: Sunrise Movement, “About”; Sunrise Movement, “Green New Deal”
Our Children’s Trust
A nonprofit law firm that helps young people use the courts to fight for a stable climate.
- Filed Juliana v. United States with 21 youth plaintiffs.
- Uses rights-based climate lawsuits.
- Shows that climate justice can be fought in courtrooms, not just streets.
- Helped inspire youth climate litigation around the world.
Sources: Our Children’s Trust, “Juliana v. U.S. — Ten Years of Impact”; Our Children’s Trust, “Juliana v. United States”
Pacific Climate Warriors
A youth-led Pacific Islander network defending island homelands from rising seas and fossil fuel expansion.
- Uses the message: “We are not drowning. We are fighting.”
- Organizes across Pacific Island nations and diaspora communities.
- Uses storytelling, culture, song, dance, and direct action.
- Reframes Pacific Islanders as leaders, not helpless victims.
Source: 350 Pacific, “Pacific Climate Warriors”
- 2018Greta begins school strike.
- 2019Global climate strikes expand.
- 2020Digital activism grows during COVID-19.
- 2020sYouth movements connect climate, racial, economic, Indigenous, and intergenerational justice.
A 2023 Human Rights Education Review article studied 9,400+ Fridays for Future posts and found that digital activism supported peer learning about rights and climate justice.
Source: Martinez Sainz and Hanna, 2023