Portrait of the most climate-conscious generation in history

Cleaning the beaches near his house in Anconcito, in Ecuador.

Recycle the plastics that reach the Laguna del Sauce, in Uruguay.

Defend the Sateré-Mawé community of Manaus, in the Brazilian Amazon, threatened by the action of illegal loggers, the burning of forests and mining ... There are three local actions, by Axel, Sofía and Samela, but they would count thousands more that occur every day, in every corner of Latin America and the Caribbean and that have been put in place to stop climate change.

"If we don't win this fight against the climate, we won't win any other one," says one of these young women.

• Cleaning the beaches of cigarette butts and plastic and not eating meat to save Latin America from climate change

• The world that Greta Thunberg predicted was true

• A new generation of 'malalas' and 'gretas'

In line with International Children's Day, which is celebrated this November 20, Unicef ​​together with América Solidaria, supported by the Fundación La Fuerza del Corazón, led by Alejandro Sanz, have launched the One Generation campaign.

A co-created and youth-driven initiative seeking to engage others united for climate action, beyond age limits.

It brings together 15 young climate activists from 13 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and Spain, which shows that young people have not stopped taking the climate initiative, in fact, they have accelerated it.

Despite the pandemic and the difficulties of coordinating face-to-face actions, these young people have continued to promote their achievements through social networks, and denounce how this global health crisis also puts actions to combat climate change at risk, turning them into the lowest priority on the public agendas of many governments.

“This campaign wants to promote environmental education in schools as the next step,” explains Manuel Moreno, a UNICEF communication specialist and part of the team that has carried out the campaign.

An environmental education that many of them already exercise.

The planet is giving emergency signals and it is time to respond.

Thank you very much for this conversation!

You are inspiring 🙌

On # WorldChildren's Day, I join # OneGenerationSingle https://t.co/Aaknjydb1i@unicef ​​@uniceflac @unicef_es @americasolidari @LFdCesmas pic.twitter.com/cFkocEg5hj

- Alejandro Sanz (@AlejandroSanz) November 20, 2020

These are their stories, told by themselves.

Axel Pilligua, 18 years old, Ecuador: "Get together with friends, create a group, clean the beaches"

Hi!

My name is Axel Pilligua, I am 18 years old, and I live in the parish of Anconcito, in Ecuador.

I lead a beach cleaning project in my community, because in the region it is a latent problem.

My beginnings as a young activist were in 2019. One of the main problems we have is that when people go to a place, they bring food and throw their waste in the sand and water.

It is important for everyone to know that global warming will begin in seven years.

At this juncture of covid-19, when we can go out we will do so with masks, which must be used and deposited in the appropriate places, not on the streets or on the beaches.

Read his full story by clicking here

Kyara Cascante, 16 years old, Costa Rica: "I can't stay without doing anything"

Hi!

I am Kyara Cascante, I am 16 years old and I am from the province of Punta Arenas, Costa Rica.

I live within the humid tropical forest on the mountain.

Five years ago I participated in the school's science and technology fair, a space where advances could be made to preserve.

These issues led me to preCOP25 in Costa Rica, where I learned that if I don't do anything about it, all of this will continue to happen, but I can't stay without doing anything.

I live in a very healthy community in environmental matters and we have great forest coverage.

However, there is air pollution due to emissions from vehicles.

My concrete actions within the community have been mainly to tree a part of the central district of the canton and also to reforest a private farm in order to offset carbon emissions.

Now I have had to reinvent myself and, to continue making a virtual impact, I have participated in digital awareness campaigns for preservation and I have signed petitions to preserve either animals or forests.

Read his full story here

Sofía Gospodinoff, 16, Uruguay: "Much of the population is uninformed"

I am Sofía Gospodinoff, I am 16 years old and I am from Maldonado, Uruguay.

I have a sustainable development project that deals with the contamination of Laguna del Sauce, both plastic and toxic, because they contaminate the vital source of this community.

We started with some colleagues from my high school changing the way we recycle, we put recycling bins, we eliminated the use of plastic cups and we even delivered some thermos so that the little ones could drink water.

With the arrival of covid-19, we reformulated the project and started raising awareness through social networks, specifically our Instagram, through tips and information, in addition to showing how to compost home gardens and be able to recycle at home.

I believe that it is necessary for more young people to join together to be able to combat the climate crisis and eliminate our carbon footprint.

Leaders have to consider that a large part of the population is uninformed, so the information must be passed on to them.

Read his story by clicking here

Wendy Augusto, 19 years old, Colombia: "We need this generation to create environmental awareness"

I am Wendy Augusto and I live in San Antero, Colombia.

I am a student and I have a project called Ecomanglarte, in which we make paper from recycling, donkey manure, and mangrove leaves.

Most of the week I am in virtual classes, but on Fridays, due to the pandemic, I have become a backup teacher.

We collect garbage and raw materials, in addition to giving environmental awareness workshops to the little ones.

We are children and adolescents who seek a better environment, who seek to give back to Mother Nature a little of what she has given us.

The main problem that affects my environment is garbage and lack of education.

Seeing so many violated rights, environmental pollution and seeing how wonderful my territory is motivated me to be an activist.

The community is not aware of the wonders it has.

The sea, rivers and even institutions and neighborhoods have been affected by pollution.

With Ecomanglarte we act to change that reality.

The purpose is to reach this generation, we need them to create an environmental conscience, because we know that it is much needed.

Read his full story by clicking here

Dante Vergara, 12 years old, Chile.

"You have to be in nature, where you can see the change and the mistakes that global warming is causing"

I am Dante Vergara, from Chile, and with my Bichology project I help to publicize how the environment works and how we can preserve it.

When I was very young, I started going out with my dad to hills and national parks, and I had the opportunity to get to know nature.

One day it occurred to me that I could show it to other boys and girls like me, motivate them and talk to them about the most important things: climate change, global warming and nature.

Because without healthy nature we cannot live, it is a rule of life.

I started recording and disseminating videos on Instagram and YouTube, in which I explained environmental issues, such as how to care for bugs and spiders.

My advice, if you want to be an activist, is very simple: be in nature, where you can see the change and the mistakes that global warming is causing.

You are going to love yourself and nothing is going to stop you from achieving what you want.

Read his full story here

Alan Ferrera, 16 years old, Mexico: "Things will not get better by themselves, we all have a role in our community"

I am Alan Ferrera Juárez, I am 16 years old and I am part of the

project

.

We, together with my community in San Pedro Balancán, Tabasco, produce a biofertilizer based on aquatic weeds that arise on the banks of the Usumacinta River, the most important freshwater reserve in Mexico.

I got started in climate activism thanks to the incentive of the Contigo Es Posible Foundation, which encourages young people to get into science.

To participate in activism is to give a solution to a problem.

You can do it and anyone who has the desire can do something.

No matter where you come from or how tough the situation may be, by acting the right way you can accomplish great things.

As they say, a great person is not defined by what they call him, but by what he does.

To those who do not know why they should act, I tell them that things are not going to get better by themselves and that we all have a role in our community, in our environment.

It is up to us whether our actions will have a positive or negative effect.

Read his full story here

Nicole Becker, 19 years old, Argentina: "The environment is a human right"

I am Nicole Becker, I am 19 years old and I am a militant environmental activist and one of the founders of Jóvenes por el Clima Argentina.

It all started when I saw a video on Instagram of young people in Europe mobilizing for the climate and ecological crisis.

I decided to turn that outrage into collective action, to better organize young people who are thinking the same thing and we had the magnificent idea of ​​calling a mobilization two weeks away from another international one, which was on March 15th.

That was the beginning of it all.

As a result of this, I changed my diet to a plant-based one, I began to recycle, compost, also have my garden and I began to go everywhere I could by bicycle.

As a generation we want to build a new normal, the environment is a human right and in the new normal it has to be recovered yes or yes to ensure the future we want.

Read his full story by clicking here

Fabiola Sánchez, 16 years old, Peru: "We must promote environmental issues inside and outside the institutions"

My name is Fabiola Sánchez Montero, I am 16 years old, and I am a student from the Moche region, Peru.

I am the leader of the Totora Artificial Wetland project for the Gray Water Biofilter.

The initiative deals with an artificial wetland in which cattails are grown, a typical plant of the area and in danger of extinction.

This wetland is maintained thanks to an installed mechanism that reuses the gray water that emanates from the establishment's kitchen.

My beginnings as an activist began when, when accompanying my parents to work in the rental of chairs and umbrellas for the beach, I noticed the great pollution left by visitors.

I invite young people to form groups and infect those who can, to seek and create ideas that help us preserve natural resources and biodiversity.

We must promote the environmental issue inside and outside the institutions: planting a tree or bringing young people together to make a biofilter, it all adds up.

Read his full story here

Juan, 17 years old, Spain: "Educational institutions do give talks on climate change, but everything remains in theory"

I'm Juan, a second high school student and I live in Huércal-Overa, in Almería.

I always enjoy the outdoors and it frustrates me to see them dirty and polluted, which is why I am an activist.

I participate in the local council of my municipality, raising awareness for the environment, and this year I began to plan my own project: organizing a community brigade of volunteers to collect garbage from the fields near the city.

I believe that we must promote practice in the fight for the environment.

Because, in my experience, educational institutions do give talks on climate change, but everything remains in theory.

At first being an activist seems very difficult, but all you have to do is have a plan and an idea, and put it into action.

Read his story by clicking here

Nina Py Brozovich, 17 years old, Bolivia: “The environmental crisis continues and is worse than before;

we have to continue "

Hi!

My name is Nina Py Brozovich, I am 17 years old, I am a student and an activist for the environment.

Last year I learned about the Fridays For Future movement, what Greta Thunberg was doing and that there was a worldwide protest to demand that the authorities take stronger action against climate change.

I started to learn about what they were doing and realized that they did not exist in Bolivia.

I was taken aback.

We are such a biodiverse country, but in danger in this matter and we were not doing anything.

So I created Fridays For Future in Bolivia in 2019. Since then we have taken the collective to various other parts of the country and that same year I represented my country in New York, at the first Youth Summit for Climate.

The environmental crisis continues and even worse than before.

We have to continue despite the circumstances.

Read his full story here

Simon Geraldson, 17, Haiti: "We must educate ourselves on caring for the environment to have a better future"

I'm Simon Geraldson, I'm 17 years old, and I live in Cité Soleil, just outside Port-au-Prince.

I have been part of the Sakala youth center for four years, where I learned about caring for the environment.

Here everyone can choose the activity they like the most.

I chose the sport and as captain of the soccer team I encourage my teammates to reduce plastic waste in training.

But above all, I work in practices related to garden care and reforestation in my community.

I will fight so that others also educate themselves about climate change.

We must unite, expose the positive initiatives that exist, raise awareness and reach the greatest number of people.

Read his story here

Guillermo Solorzano, 17 years old, Guatemala: “People no longer throw their garbage on the street”

My name is Guillermo Solorzano, I am 17 years old, and I am an activist and volunteer for Paz Joven Guatemala.

Together with other young people from my community in La Tuna Village, in Ipala, I help to develop and install mechanisms for the reuse of gray water based on recyclable materials, which are discarded by the inhabitants themselves.

For me, this project is the one that has had the most impact on people in my community.

The idea arose from the constant complaints of the neighbors about the bad smells that emerged from the drains in summer, something that generated health problems.

Thanks to this project, the population has become more interested in caring for the environment: now they no longer throw garbage on the street and participate in reforestation days.

Read his story here

María Cortés, 19 years old, Guatemala: "My biggest dream is that more young people are interested in climate change"

My name is María Guadalupe Cortés and I live in San Luis Jilotepeque, where I am currently an activist for the care of the environment.

For some time I have been a volunteer for the local group of Paz Joven Guatemala.

What worries me most today is the pollution that plastic bags generate on the earth and the hundreds of years it takes for them to degrade.

Together with my colleagues we launched the campaign

, which tries to discourage its use in San Luis.

So far we have carried out various activities to raise awareness among the population: we delivered newsletters, we gave away other reusable ones and we also conducted a survey on the use of these products within the Municipal Market.

My biggest dream is for this practice to be eradicated and to have a clean, green San Luis that is touristy, that everyone wants to come here for its green areas.

But also, I dream that more young people are interested in climate change.

Read his full story by clicking here

Maria Marshall, 11, Barbados: “No matter how old you are, you can make a real change”

I am Maria, I live in the Christ Church area, in Barbados, and some time ago I created the Little thoughts on Big Matters project, to help combat climate change in the world, protect our species and tell you to others like me that our opinion on the subject does count.

In 2019 I presented a video about my environmental project at the Barbados National Independence Creative Arts Festival and I won third place!

Thanks to that, I became the youngest film director in the country to be awarded.

My family has always taught me the importance of taking care of my environment and the need to recycle, reuse and repair.

My father, who is my biggest role model, is part of the Blue Green Initiative, a group that works for the protection of nature, and he has taught me how valuable the environment is to us and how we are destroying it.

No matter how old you are, you can make a real change.

Read his full story by clicking here

Samela Sateré-Mawé, 24 years old, Brazil: "For my people the climate struggle is a question of survival"

My name is Samela, I am a biology student from the Sateré-Mawé community in Manaus.

My roots of the Amazonian indigenous culture have been my main inspiration.

We are the main defenders of the Amazon, threatened by the action of illegal loggers, the burning of forests and mining exploitation.

There are many attacks on our territory, so for my people the climate fight is a question of survival.

I am currently a representative of the Sateré-Mawé Indigenous Women's Association and I am part of the Fridays for Future organization in Brazil, where I act to take care of nature.

My advice, if you want to be an activist, is that it doesn't matter our age, it doesn't matter where we are from;

We can always have an active voice to change the reality in which we live.

Read his full story by clicking here

The team that has compiled the profiles and worked on this campaign is made up of:

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