Youth Blog

The WWF EDM team has been elevating youth voices for disaster and environmental management through meaningful collaborations, youth engagement programs (such as the Flood Green Guide Youth Champions Program) and internships. Young leaders are key advocates for a resilient future and are powerful agents of change. Hear from past BRIDGE intern Hennessy Martinez on her experiences engaging policymakers as part of the Youth Climate Commission in Los Angeles, and learn how some cities are integrating the voices of youth, who have traditionally been left out of decision-making processes. During Hennessy’s BRIDGE internship with the EDM team, she supported different youth engagement projects, developed a case study on Los Angeles’ sponge city efforts, and conducted literature research on the sand crisis. This blog is the third of the “Youth Voices” series (read the first blog here and the second story here).

I have lived in five different states in the first 18 years of my life. With each move I experienced, it uprooted the community and people that I developed a connection with.  Yet, I never was bitter. The normal feelings of grief and sadness did arise whenever my parents informed me it was time for another move, but being a child prevented me from being resentful of the idea of having to restart my life once again. Instead, feelings of excitement towards new beginnings and opportunities to build a new community of people filled me up. Looking back at my childhood, having to constantly rebuild my life and community helped me pave a strong foundation for my youth-engaged and climate activism work. It demonstrated to me how easily I could connect and build a community for myself by just being me and sharing my interests, experiences, and passions with others. It also taught me early on the value of community and how beautiful it is to create that sense of belonging with others.

During my high school years, I became more and more aware of the ongoing environmental crisis in the world. I also experienced them firsthand, such as living in a prolonged drought in California, or that time I survived Hurricane Sandy! Climate change, environmental injustices, and natural hazards were all part of my reality — and these were all events that gave me more anxiety during my teenage years than my calculus exam or college applications. My brain was constantly feeling like an alphabet soup, trying to find meaning among all my worries and thoughts about the environmental issues that were going on in my world and how I could help. I knew I wanted to take action, and I wanted to see if others my age felt as heavy as they did seeing the world around us fall apart. I no longer wanted to feel useless when I cared so much. 

In 2018, Greta Thunberg, who was 15 at the time, was being broadcast across all the US news outlets about the “School Strike for Climate” that she organized in Sweden. I was eating toast before leaving for school when I read a CNN article on my phone about Greta’s youth climate strikes. Shock immediately took over my body, quickly followed by intense relief. Greta Thunberg demonstrated to the world that our generation would not settle for the status quo. The youth wanted climate action taken seriously, and it was the first time I felt seen by what my sixteen-year-old self had been processing for the past two years. I realized I was no longer the only one who cared. Youths around the world were taking a stance and I knew I wanted to be part of this movement. 

As I shifted into my college life at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), I began to meet many students who were equally passionate about climate change and the environment, which helped me find new ways to be active in environmental efforts and movements for my communities. In 2022, the County of Los Angeles (LA)  approved the first-ever Youth Climate Commission (YCC), designed for youth over 18 to “… purpose of the Commission is to offer recommendations, ideas, and advice on County goals, plans, actions, and policies related to climate mitigation and adaptation” (Ord. 2022-0022 § 1, 2022.). The YCC is made up of five commissioner from each of the five districts in Los Angeles County. The purpose of the YCC is to work with youth across the county to get their voices heard at the local government level  and make recommendations on climate adaptation and mitigation policies, legislation, and initiatives. 

In November of 2022, I was appointed to be one of the commissioners for District 3, which was the district that I lived in during my undergraduate studies. I have been part of the YCC since its establishment… In the first year, the goal was to collect 250 anonymous short surveys and 10 long surveys from youth 18 and under in each district to rank their climate priorities on eight climate issues such as green space and air quality. The longer surveys were needed to get a deeper understanding of how youth are being affected by climate change, where youth were getting their news, and to collect testimonials on a variety of climate-related topics. 

The YCC spent a whole year attending various youth events to build the YCC’s foundation in youth outreach, getting to understand what the different youth climate priorities are across the county, and getting the commission known by the youth of Los Angeles. The survey and outreach activities helped the YCC commissioners understand youth climate priorities so they can advocate and make climate policy recommendations on behalf of the youth who are not of age to vote. 

My time at the YCC was beyond enlightening because it allowed me to work directly with youth in my community and understand what matters the most to them regarding climate change issues — something that I wish I could have experienced during my high school years when I first was becoming aware of climate change. During my youth outreach within District 3, I was able to collect surveys at a youth climate strike, where I encountered a group of fifth graders who were demanding climate action!  Never could I fathom that I would encounter elementary students worried sick about their quality of life in the face of the climate crisis. It was my first time seeing how aware and educated the future generations are! 

For me, conducting youth outreach was a non-negotiable part of the mission and purpose of the YCC. The YCC is doing exceptional work by creating a platform where the local government is working alongside youth across LA County, amplifying the voices of youth who are often left out of the conversation when it comes to climate change. It is also a demonstration that climate change will have multigenerational effects and requires that all generations be included and considered in climate-related solutions, initiatives, and efforts. 

Now at 22, I am no longer anguished by the climate anxiety that I experienced in my teenage years. After spending an entire year doing youth outreach, the radical hope and optimism among the younger generation was contagious. While it was saddening how aware and educated these youth were regarding climate change, it proved that age is not a limiting factor to understanding the depth and full impacts of climate change. Being a part of youth-engaged work allowed for there to be a sense of camaraderie and community within youth in my district. I was able to connect with each of their stories, and could see that regardless of age differences or backgrounds, we all want the same thing: a healthy life and world for all. 

My time with the  YCC and conducting youth-engaged work was beautiful. I was able to find community within the youth of my district and among the other commissioners.  I am nothing but excited to see the work that the YCC will be doing in bridging youth with local government climate action in these upcoming years.