The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing us to stay home. But that won’t stop millions of climate activists around the world from holding digital climate strikes.
April 22 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and this year Earth Day is going digital. One of these digital initiatives is Earth Day Live. The US Climate Strike Coalition and Stop The Money Pipeline Coalition are organizing this three-day live stream on April 22-24. Earth Day Live will enable millions of people to join activists, celebrities, musicians, and more in the online mobilization.
Needed changes in society
“The fights against the coronavirus and the climate crisis go hand-in-hand. As we work to flatten the curve of this pandemic, we must strive toward the longer term goal of building a society that is better equipped to confront another global threat: the climate emergency. Earth Day Live is a chance for humanity to come together and begin to collectively reimagine the society, economy, and political system we need to confront the challenges ahead of us,” Nadia Nazar, Co-Executive Director and Art Director of coalition member Zero Hour, said in a press statement.
Apart from digital climate strikes, Earth Day Live will have training sessions, performances, and appearances. The speakers will include celebrities, politicians, musicians, activists, scientists, and youth leaders on the frontlines of climate justice. You may find the list of participants on the event site.
“Our goal is to recreate the feeling of attending an in person mass mobilization, but in the virtual world. That means dynamic speakers, the chance to meet people you don’t know, an opportunity for direct action — and yes, we still want you to make a protest sign. Social distancing doesn’t mean that we can’t still engage in collective action,” Naina Agrawal-Hardin, Organizer at Sunrise Movement, said in a press statement.
With these digital climate strikes, the organizers are reinventing grassroots mobilization in the face of the new normal.
“Through Earth Day Live, our goal is to reimagine what a social movement looks like in this new ‘digital-first’ era,” Katie Eder, Executive Director of Future Coalition, said in a press statement. “This is an opportunity to use the collective power of our movement to advocate for our demands and expand it.”
As you can see from the banner on our site, Digital Life Asia is supporting Earth Day Live. How about you?
