Why Global Activators is needed

Global Activators is a charitable organization, registered in Canada, with the mission of protecting our living planet. We are harnessing the energies of young people in order to greatly expand and strengthen the global citizens movement to secure life on Earth.

the strategic importance of engaging YOUNG PEOPLE

• Youth are eager and willing to invest considerable volunteer time (often measured in weeks or months) for projects aimed at protecting our living planet. At scale, this is a massive contribution to the cause.

• By their very nature, young people are highly effective at informing and engaging people in the things they are passionate about, such as protecting life on Earth. Their spheres of influence (e.g. neighbours, family, peers, coaches, workmates, teachers, etc) are people of diverse ages, backgrounds, political orientations, etc. With training and support, youth can effectively involve these people in taking advocacy actions (e.g. writing letters to politicians) for key global challenges such as securing the future of the Amazon rainforest. The diverse types of people youth can engage are usually not reachable by environmental organizations.

• When the above two points are taken together it becomes clear that young people have a strategic, perhaps even pivotal, role in greatly expanding the movement to protect our threatened planet at just the moment it’s most needed.

Through our youth gatherings and targeted advocacy campaigns, Global Activators provides the education, training, structure, and support for young people to maximize their potential as agents of positive change. Individual actions like recycling can often feel futile but there is transformative power in collective action. While young people will be powering our advocacy campaigns, the people actually taking advocacy actions will be of all ages. It’s an intergenerational alliance.

LINKING ECOSYSTEMS PROTECTION WITH CLIMATE ACTION

Global Activators is guided by the best available science. It tells us that the biodiversity crisis requires the same urgent attention as the climate crisis — and that the solutions to both are linked. Biodiversity is under grave threat worldwide and needs to be protected for its own sake. But saving ecosystems such as the world’s immense ancient forests is also an important strategy for mitigating climate change, as these forests sequester colossal amounts of carbon. Our work to protect forests enables us to address these two global issues at once.

The opportunity

We see the opportunity to communicate this forest ecosystem/climate connection to young people and thereby engage those who are passionate about climate change in efforts to protect the Amazon, Boreal, and other key forests. Currently, millions of young people identify themselves as climate campaigners. If even just a small portion of them became committed to protecting the world’s forests, it would be a huge boon for the cause. Global Activators intends to make this happen. Where possible, we will partner with other organizations to support existing campaigns. What we have to offer is bringing scores of new advocates to these campaigns. If the campaigns do not exist in a given region, we will create them.

ACTION CREATES OPTIMISM, FRIENDS PROVIDE SUPPORT

We are mindful that many young people today are experiencing mental health challenges, including anxiety and feelings of hopelessness, because of the climate emergency and the precipitous decline of ecosystems worldwide. Social media and the global pandemic have made them feel isolated, which has only worsened their mental health. At Global Activators, we believe the cure for feelings of disconnection and hopelessness is action with friends. Because action creates optimism and friends provide meaningful support. Thus, we are bringing young people together (in person, not over social media) to work on a common cause, to make lifelong friendships, and to be inspired about the future. 

Our Experience

The principals involved in Global Activators have several decades of experience in engaging young people in learning, advocacy, and volunteerism for protecting our living planet. To date, thousands of people have benefited from these experiences. Our founder got his start when, as a teenager, he formed a youth group to protected the threatened ancient temperate rainforests on the west coast of Canada. In 2022, he undertook an extensive alliance building visit to Brazil and Peru. These experiences have informed the design of Global Activators’ Living Forests Program.

Global Activators is registered as a charitable organization with the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada's charity regulator. Registration number: 809428055RR0001. Donations are tax deductible for Canadian income tax purposes.