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U.S. Youth Climate Change delegates visit Manchester on 10,000km bicycle journey to United Nations Climate Conference

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Pedaling into Manchester on Sunday 25th October 2015, Morgan Curtis, 23, and Garrett Blad, 23, are on Climate Journey, a 10,000km bicycle expedition to COP21, the twenty-first United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France. As climate change negotiators, concerned citizens, and policymakers worldwide prepare for the next global climate agreement to be decided, the young writer and artist are moving slowly over five months, gathering stories of individuals and communities mobilizing for climate action. Having started in Vermont, USA, travelled through to Nova Scotia, Canada, bicycled across Iceland, traversed Scandinavia, they are now in the UK, their final stop before France.


With Curtis writing and Blad photographing, filming and collaging, they are telling stories of local people working towards a just transition to a climate-stable future. They see their storytelling from this journey as a tool for inspiring followers from around the world, both to push for a binding, ambitious, and equitable global climate treaty in Paris, and for grassroots climate action in 2016 and beyond. While in [CITY] they are talking with [GROUPS] about their efforts towards climate justice.

 

On arrival in Paris, Curtis and Blad will be delegates within the conference, working alongside other leading U.S. youth climate activists with SustainUS, a group that has been sending youth delegations to  United Nations conferences since 2003. While negotiating on behalf of their own and future generations, Curtis believes that “it is crucial that we make heard the voices of those taking action on the frontlines of the climate crisis.” She hopes that decision makers, who have been negotiating climate change “for as long as I have been alive,” will step strongly towards the right side of history, universally ratifying a treaty that mandates emissions cuts from all countries, and “most especially, demands leadership from developed countries, providing the finance needed to keep fossil fuels in the ground.”

 

“I am setting out on my bicycle because I feel complicit in the unjust systems that are driving climate change,” Blad said. “With the knowledge and questions that I have, I cannot sit idle. During Climate Journey, we are highlighting the voices of others who feel their interconnection with others and have decided to act. We go out not in search of answers, but with a willingness to listen and be humbled by the courage and resilience of those on the frontlines, hoping their stories will galvanize others to take bold action.”

Contact: Morgan Curtis, morgan@climatejourney.org;
Website: www.climatejourney.org, Twitter: @climatejourney

About Morgan Curtis: Morgan is originally from London, UK and graduated from Dartmouth College (New Hampshire, USA) with an engineering degree in 2014. She coordinates Alumni for Dartmouth Divestment, the alumni campaign for Dartmouth College to divest from fossil fuels, and is the Media Lead for the Multi-School Fossil Free Divestment Fund. She taught Environmental Issues at Chewonki Semester School (Maine, USA) as the 2014-15 Sustainability Fellow.

 

About Garrett Blad: Garrett graduated in May 2015 from the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, USA) with a degree in Sustainable Policy and Environmental Science. There, he co-founded and led Fossil Free ND, which campaigns for Notre Dame to divest its endowment from fossil fuels. In Summer 2013 he bicycled 1200 miles in Maine, USA with Climate Summer, working to build resistance to the Portland Montreal Pipeline reversal. He was born, raised, and educated in northwest Indiana, USA.

 

About Climate Journey: Climate Journey is a 10,000km climate storytelling expedition to the United Nations Climate Conference in Paris in December 2015. Climate Journey is in search of teammates, sponsors, crowdfunding and ideas for people and places to visit enroute through Scandinavia, the U.K. and France. Learn more at climatejourney.org. Follow @climatejourney.

About SustainUS: SustainUS is a US national volunteer-based youth organization that empowers young people to create a more sustainable world through involvement in international summits and grassroots activities. Through its Agents of Change program, youth have the opportunity to participate in UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. SustainUS delegates have played significant roles lobbying negotiators, building bridges between international civil society groups, and serving as a moral voice for intergenerational justice. Learn more at sustainus.org. Follow @SustainUSAgents.

 

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