Our mission is to promote climate literacy by curating an extensive lexicon of key words submitted by experts on the frontlines.
Our goal is giving people the tools they need to talk about climate. We invite authors, scientists, Indigenous leaders, policy-makers, explorers and designers to select a word that is central to their climate work and define it in their own voice. We support each definition with factual information, photographic evidence, literature and resources for further learning.
Word
Author,
Title, Initiative and Organisation
Definition
The texts are written by people working on climate justice advocacy and activism in a wide range of fields. Some words are positive, they shed light on some of the barriers we have overcome. And others are negative, born from some of the walls that stand in our way. The writing is as poetic or scientific as the author choses.
The texts are written by people working on climate justice advocacy and activism in a wide range of fields. Some words are positive, they shed light on some of the barriers we have overcome. And others are negative, born from some of the walls that stand in our way. The writing is as poetic or scientific as the author choses.
Further Resources
Each definition is accompanied by further reading/media on the topic. The resources may include links to videos, books, podcasts, documentaries, organisations or articles selected by the author, providing context to the word.
Each definition is accompanied by further reading/media on the topic. The resources may include links to videos, books, podcasts, documentaries, organisations or articles selected by the author, providing context to the word.
Images
Each word is matched with one image. They belong to a photographic body of work on the contemporary youth-led climate justice movement and Earth’s natural beauty.
Each word is matched with one image. They belong to a photographic body of work on the contemporary youth-led climate justice movement and Earth’s natural beauty.
1.5 °C
Benjamín Carvajal Ponce,
Founder of Uno.Cinco
The concept and definition of 1.5 is one we know all too well: it stems from the Paris Climate Accord and it is about limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
But to us it means more. It represents ambition around a common goal. It is a goal that does not have borders. It is not limited to any language or culture. It is a goal that the entirety of society, irrespective of a person’s individual role, can stand behind.
We must acknowledge our disproportionate responsibility and our disproportionate capacity. However, everyone has the power to act. The use of such a simple term is intentional. We understand that 1.5 amounts to more than a number, more than a policy agreement. It is a climate justice that is beyond emissions, centering people and ecosystems.
We must remember it is not too late. We have time to act, and that time is now.
But to us it means more. It represents ambition around a common goal. It is a goal that does not have borders. It is not limited to any language or culture. It is a goal that the entirety of society, irrespective of a person’s individual role, can stand behind.
We must acknowledge our disproportionate responsibility and our disproportionate capacity. However, everyone has the power to act. The use of such a simple term is intentional. We understand that 1.5 amounts to more than a number, more than a policy agreement. It is a climate justice that is beyond emissions, centering people and ecosystems.
We must remember it is not too late. We have time to act, and that time is now.
3.5 %
Bill McKibben,
Author, educator, environmentalist, and co-founder of 350.org
This totemic number comes from the work of Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth, whose global database of nonviolent social protests finds that when that percentage of citizens engage in a peaceful civil uprising, they are nearly certain to win. (She also finds that nonviolent resistance is twice as successful as the use of force.)
There are 8 billion people on the planet; that would imply the climate crisis requires a movement of 280 million people, which is a lot of human beings, but easier to imagine than, say, 50%.
In a sense, the rule recognizes that most people most of the time will be apathetic and uninvolved, which makes it hard to mount an uprising, but also hard to stop one once it gets started, especially if there's no violence to repulse bystanders.
Historians, Chenoweth notes, have tended to fixate on violent upheavals, and so have the movies--but “ordinary people, all the time, are engaging in pretty heroic activities that are actually changing the way the world – and those deserve some notice and celebration as well.”
There are 8 billion people on the planet; that would imply the climate crisis requires a movement of 280 million people, which is a lot of human beings, but easier to imagine than, say, 50%.
In a sense, the rule recognizes that most people most of the time will be apathetic and uninvolved, which makes it hard to mount an uprising, but also hard to stop one once it gets started, especially if there's no violence to repulse bystanders.
Historians, Chenoweth notes, have tended to fixate on violent upheavals, and so have the movies--but “ordinary people, all the time, are engaging in pretty heroic activities that are actually changing the way the world – and those deserve some notice and celebration as well.”
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© 2023, Climate Words, Inc. All rights reserved.
287 Park Avenue South, Suite 700
New York, NY 10010
United States
hello@climatewords.org
+1 (332) 900-7880
Climate Words is fiscally sponsored by Ecologistics, Inc. (EIN 27-2116150), a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.
© 2023, Climate Words, Inc. All rights reserved.
