- Acampamento Terra Livre 2023: Fortify Indigenous Communication for Land Defense Read in Portuguese The biggest Indigenous gathering in Brazil took place in the last week of April this year. Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL or ‘Free Land Camp’) had as its theme “The Indigenous future is today – without land demarcation, there is no democracy!”. Through collaborative communication, Indigenous collectives denounced abuses and informed others about […]
- Use Video and Technology for the Defense of Earth and Indigenous Peoples Indigenous communities and broader climate justice movements have long been confronting capitalism, colonialism, white supremacy, and related forces of exploitation and destruction. Indigenous-led resistance to these threats has woven ancestral wisdom with emerging tools and tactics– including audiovisual technology. Visuals evincing the deterioration of the planet have strengthened demands for urgent, globally coordinated responses to […]
- YOUTH V GOV: A Beacon of Hope YOUTH v GOV, a transformative film directed by former WITNESS partner Christi Cooper about the unparalleled work of another former partner, Our Children’s Trust, premieres at the prestigious DOC NYC Film Festival from November 11-19, 2020. Tickets can be purchased here. The next chance to watch this must-see film won’t be until 2021 so don’t […]
- WITNESS Stands With Youth Fighting Legal Battle for Climate Justice WITNESS joined other organizations and advocates in filing an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to support young people suing the federal government for not acting to reverse climate change.
- We Must Act: Obama Announces Climate Action Plan, Citing Health of Future Generations Obama announced his climate change plan, advocating for future generations the same way TRUST activists have done for themselves and their communities.
- Stand with our Youth: Write to President Obama and Ask for a Climate Recovery Plan Children share a future threatened by climate change, and many have found ways to make their voices heard. The youth of the TRUST Campaign have told their stories in a remarkable series of short videos, and they’ve taken action in the court.
- 20 Powerful Moments in Human Rights Video Every year on December 10th, human rights organizations mark International Human Rights Day. To highlight our 20th anniversary and Human Rights Day, we're sharing 20 significant human rights video moments. Compiled by the entire WITNESS team and presented in chronological order, the list reflects instances where video (or film) made a difference: as evidence in a court or tribunal, galvanized mass mobilization or outrage, marked a turning point, a new use of technology for human rights, and more.
- 16-year-old Climate Advocate Speaks Out on Hurricane Sandy 16-year-old Maya Faison from Queens, New York recently shared her thoughts on Hurricane Sandy and climate change in an article published by Climate Progress. Maya wrote the article on her sixth day without heat, her sixth day without power, and her sixth day with no gas in her mom’s car to escape. What troubled me most in what she shared is this: “I feel let down and disappointed that it’s taken a major storm that has taken over 40 lives and counting for my elected leaders to acknowledge the reality of climate change.”
- After Hurricane Sandy, Our Youth Call on Us: Be Upstanders, Not Bystanders. Vote for Climate Justice! Over the last year, we filmed youth from across the country – literally from Boston, Massachusetts to a village just inland from the Bering Sea – whose lives have already been changed by the deterioration of our Earth’s atmosphere. These award-winning video portraits showcase how our youth are bravely taking legal action against our governments’ collective failure to take serious climate action.
- TRUST Oregon: Kelsey Juliana Asks Courts to Recognize her Generation’s Right to a Healthy Atmosphere Since the world’s key decision makers and our legislature’s refuse to lead us out of our climate crisis and protect our air and water, our youth, between classes, after school and on weekends, are stepping up and asking the courts to recognize and honor their constitutional right to a healthy atmosphere. In Oregon, Kelsey Juliana’s parents taught her not to take the air and water for granted.
- TRUST Pennsylvania: America’s Youth Have Solutions to Climate Change, Let’s Follow Their Lead Over the course of the last year, I have been working with a dynamic, committed and brilliant group of young Americans who don't have trouble imagining a future different from the present. They don’t block out complex problems that lack simple solutions and instead find the solutions.
- TRUST Colorado: Understanding What It Means to Protect Our Atmosphere Justinian concluded that these essential, common, natural resources belong to everyone and not just the Emperor or the privileged. Consequently, the Roman Empire protected these resources in trust, for the public. This hallowed legal principle, referred to as the Public Trust Doctrine, is perhaps most simply explained by 11-year-old Xiuhtezcatl Martinez...
- Stories of TRUST: Celebrating Earth Day with Two Women From Iowa If we think about it, we can all remember a moment when we realized something was fundamentally wrong with our environment. For me, it was late spring and I was in my front yard in our middle-class neighborhood, in middle America, in the full mid-morning sun. I think I was about nine years old.
- TRUST Arizona: Asking Our Leaders to Lead on Climate Justice Congress and the White House are violating U.S. law. Most all our State Governments are breaking their own state laws too. So our youth are utilizing the last branch of our democracy that may be open to them and asking our judges to listen to their stories, hear their legal argument and make a considered and lawful decision.
- Judges in Five States Will Hear Climate Change Cases Filed by Youth Over the course of the last year WITNESS has partnered with Our Children’s Trust (OCT) and the iMatter Campaign to elevate the voices of youth from across the country who are defending their right to a healthy atmosphere and sustainable future. The youth are taking their case to judges across the country and asking that the courts order the adoption and implementation of scientifically sound Climate Recovery Plans.
