Here's how Global Shapers' virtual climate activism is thriving

In early April, as the world adjusted to stay-at-home orders and online meetings, Global Shaper Lucia Wang knew that her climate activism had to adapt as well.

As a trained Climate Reality Leader, Lucia was aware that education and inspiration were critical in mobilizing people around the world to protect our planet. Her solution was simple: she began to host monthly webinars on the climate crisis.

"I wanted to engage, inspire, and drive action to create a bigger impact within our own communities, especially during this time," she explained.

Along with Global Shapers from every region of the world, Lucia launched a cross-hub initiative to provide a condensed version of former US Vice President Al Gore's famous climate slideshow, called Truth in 10, each month, led by alternating hubs.

Lucia said, “Just because we couldn't physically be together, it didn't mean we couldn't still make a difference! That's when the power of the Global Shapers community came into full force – connecting with Shapers from around the world, multiplying efforts, and executing Truth in 10 webinars in nine different regions and time zones.”

After several months of hosting presentations to a diverse range of audiences, Global Shapers have learned from each other how to passionately and effectively convey the climate emergency virtually. They frequently share pain points, interests, fears, needs, and wants to encourage each other to continue presenting. "At the end of the day," Lucia observed, "climate advocacy and demanding systemic change can be stressful, heart-wrenching, and lonely at times. It's a marathon, not a sprint. And rather than doing it alone, the best way is to build a supportive Global Shapers community that you can lean on."

It's no secret that we are at an inflection point. The climate crisis, a global pandemic, and reckoning on racial injustice are forcing us to reevaluate our systems and how we take action. We should all be finding ways like the Global Shapers adopted virtual climate activism to further the global conversation on climate change and think hard about the future that we want.

The Climate Reality Project has paved the way for us to do just that. On October 10-11, Climate Reality is hosting 24 Hours of Reality: Countdown to the Future, in partnership with TED Countdown. For 24 straight hours, Vice President Gore and Climate Reality Leader activists around the world will lead digital presentations and discussions on how to fight for our future amidst COVID-19, structural racism, and a burning planet.

Visit www.24hoursofreality.org to learn more, request a virtual presentation, or find one happening in your time zone.