A key feature of the Plant-for-the-Planet success story are the so-called academies with an average of 60 participants. Here, children and young people between the ages of nine and twelve raise each other’s awareness of global solutions to the climate crisis and train to become Climate Justice Ambassadors. An academy is a one-day workshop. In addition to facts about the climate crisis, the children and young people also receive rhetorical training so that they can speak unabashedly and convincingly in front of adults and public figures. During the pandemic, we also developed an online format.
The mission of a Climate Justice Ambassador is to educate others about the potential of planting trees: That trees buy us time in the fight against climate crisis and are not themselves the solution to climate problems. In the time gained, we need to reduce CO₂ emissions to zero. Neither the 1.5°C limit, nor the 2.0°C limit can be maintained without trees.
Currently (2021), there are 92,000 trained Climate Justice Ambassadors in 75 countries. And the number is growing.
Many former Ambassadors are now represented in all the key bodies of the Board of Trustees, the Board of Directors and the General Assembly of the Mexican Association. These young people are also driving the development of our digital platform and app. The fight against the climate crisis begins with our smartphones. And these young people have long since recognized that.
