Here in the South Pacific, we've got our sights firmly set on September 24th – but it's this month of May that we're really getting into gear.
In a weeks time 30 young people will converge in Wellington, New Zealand for an intensive 4-day Youth Climate Leadership workshop. We'll be planning massive Moving Planet actions across New Zealand – and we'll also be having a visit from Dr. James Hansen – the NASA scientist who led the research that pointed to this number – 350ppm. Hansen is doing a whirlwind tour of New Zealand – to make it known that investing in fossil fuels is not the way forward for New Zealand. The answer is 100% Renewable energy – which we're backing up with our 100% Renewable Energy campaign. We are lobbying local councils to support a massive solar hot-water heating initaitive – as the first stage in the 100% Renewable campaign.
In Australia, action planning is underway by our team and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition – expect big things in Melbourne and elsewhere for Moving Planet. It has already been a busy year for the Australian climate movement with their battles against the corrupting force of the heavy polluters and politicans.
Meanwhile our Pacific Island organisers are already busy planning for Moving Planet – big plans are in the pipeline in Tonga and today a team of organisers are meeting up in Samoa to plan their action. You might have already heard about the action planned in Papua New Guinea.
Every week I receive emails from Pacific Island youth (this week it was Papua New Guinea and the Marshall Islands) who are desperate to learn more about climate change. They want to be part of the global movement to solve the climate crisis because it is needed to save their own families and cultures from climate catastrophies. It's tough to keep up with the demand – so at the end of June, 40 of our top Pacific-based organisers will meet for a 4-day workshop to be upskilled with workshop-running skills and to plan for the way forward for the Pacific region. The Pacific is getting moving – how about you?
All Pacific Island countries already support the 350ppm target – but they haven't been particularly vocal about it. We have been writing letters to Pacific Island heads of state – to show how our movement can support them to be a stronger voice for the 350ppm target. We've got some other exciting plans – we'll keep you posted over the coming weeks and months.
We're moving our part of the planet here in the South Pacific!