
The climate crisis is the defining issue of our time and we are at a monumental moment. Shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding–the impacts of climate change are global and unprecedented in scale. Lack of access to clean water, endless drought, and increasingly destructive natural disasters jeopardize our livelihoods.
If governments fail to take aggressive and targeted action to fight climate change, people’s human rights, including to life, health, food, and water, will suffer catastrophically. The impacts on human rights disproportionately affects disadvantaged and marginalized communities. STFer’s are campaigning for their schools to transition to 100% renewable energy, participating in California state legislative advocacy and engaging in climate justice education. We are committed to taking action for environmental justice. Join us!
Get Educated: If You Only Have…
60 Seconds:
The science is settled and the climate crisis is here. If our communities fail to take climate action, what does that mean for our future? Rising sea levels, toxic air and lack of access to clean water are just a few of the world-wide impacts we will feel if we don’t act now. Our rights to breathe, eat and dream without fear will be compromised. But we still have time to change course. We can avoid more dire impacts of climate change by limiting warming at a local, state, national and global level. The solution is you. Are you ready?

5 Minutes:
NEW: Sign petitions demanding schools transitions to 100% renewable energy!
NEW: Learn about renewable energy
Test your knowledge with this Climate Change Quiz
Learn about Climate History:
- The World Reacts: Scientists, politicians and citizens navigate the new climate reality.
- The Early Science: Hypotheses and experiments point to a warming planet.
30 Minutes
Calculate your carbon or water footprint
Catch up on latest research from HRW’s Environment Division
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STF Chapters: Use these Green Schools Campaign resources to get started today!
Climate Change Fast Facts
Additional Educational Resources
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“Three Seconds” PSA
Watch: “Three Seconds” (Click to watch, 4:18)
“I believe we should have the right to eat food that’s safe…drink water that is clean, breathe air free of toxins. These are natural rights, not things that can be bargained for in Congress. When enough people come together, we will make waves, and wash the world into a new era filled with freedom for all. But it is up to you.”
Spencer Sharp feat. Prince Ea
Connect4Climate“I Am Greta” Documentary
Trailer for “I Am Greta” (Click to watch, 2:22)
The story of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is told through compelling, never-before-seen footage in this intimate documentary from Swedish director Nathan Grossman. Starting with her one-person school strike for climate action outside the Swedish Parliament, Grossman follows Greta—a shy student with Asperger’s—in her rise to prominence and her galvanizing global impact as she sparks school strikes around the world. The film culminates with her extraordinary wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York City.
“I Am Greta” Documentary
Watch the documentary on Hulu. Find more resources and follow up from the film in this Educator’s Toolkit from Can You Hear Us?Introducing Josiah Edwards
Watch: Living Near Drilling Is Deadly. Why Don’t California Lawmakers Care? (Click to watch, 4:19)
“Growing up in Carson, a city in Los Angeles County, as a Black kid with childhood Asthma, my parents were always worried about my ability to just breathe…. To make matters worse, my middle school was less than a few miles away from one of the biggest refineries West of the Mississippi.”
Josiah Edwards
Climate Change Activist, Human Rights Watch Student Task Force Intern, Sunrise Movement Hub CoordinatorRead Josiah’s New York Times Op-Ed: Living Near Drilling Is Deadly. Why Don’t California Lawmakers Care?
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Take Action to Stop Climate Change
Get started with:
On Your Own/With Friends:

Calculate your:
Use the Climate Crisis Personal Advocacy Planner to identify who you can encourage to calculate their environmental footprints and have impact on the global climate crisis.
As a School Community:

The Green Schools Campaign provides materials and resources to help you to investigate your school’s/school district’s status as an emitter of greenhouse gases.
Take Action: Sign petitions to convert our schools to 100% renewable energy.
In California:

CA Senate Bill 467 would ban all fracking in California by 2027, taking aim at the powerful oil and gas industry in a state already planning to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035. The bill will also halt new oil and gas permits within 2,500 feet of homes or schools by Jan. 1.
Additional Materials and Resources
HRW’s Environment Division (click to open)

Learn more with these HRW press releases and reports on climate change:
- HRW’s Environment Division
- January 13, 2021: Addressing the Climate Crisis in Times of Pandemic
- January 11, 2021: Canada Needs to Deliver to Stem Climate Change
- December 3, 2020: US Heat Deaths Among Older People Rising
- December 1, 2020: The Dangerous Job of Protecting the Environment in Russia
- October 23, 2020: US: Heat Emergency Plans Missing Pregnancy, Racial Justice
- August 26, 2020: “The Air is Unbearable” – Health Impacts of Deforestation-Related Fires in the Brazilian Amazon
- May 28, 2020: People with Disabilities Needed in Fight Against Climate Change
- January 28, 2020: It Is Time to Change the Definition of Refugee
- September 17, 2019: For Communities in South Africa, Climate Change is Now
Human Rights and Climate Change Key Messages (click to open)

Climate change impacts, directly and indirectly, an array of internationally
guaranteed human rights. States (duty-bearers) have an affirmative obligation to take
effective measures to prevent and redress these climate impacts, and therefore, to
mitigate climate change, and to ensure that all human beings (rights-holders) have the
necessary capacity to adapt to the climate crisis. Climate justice requires that climate
action is consistent with existing human rights agreements, obligations, standards and
principles. Those who have contributed the least to climate change unjustly and
disproportionately suffer its harms. They must be meaningful participants in and
primary beneficiaries of climate action, and they must have access to effective
remedies. OHCHRʼs Key Messages on Human Rights and Climate Change highlight
the essential obligations and responsibilities of States and other duty-bearers
(including businesses) and their implications for climate change-related agreements,
policies, and actions. In order to foster policy coherence and help ensure that climate
change mitigation and adaptation efforts are adequate, sufficiently ambitious,
non-discriminatory and otherwise compliant with human rights obligations, the
following considerations should be reflected in all climate action.
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Key Messages on Human Rights and Climate Change
Read STFers’ Climate Stories (click to open)
Sharing your climate story can provide context to WHY you’re concerned about climate change. Check out these STFers’ climate stories for inspiration.




Video: “Earthrise” (4:29) (click to open)
Video: “Three Seconds” (4:15) (click to open)
Video: Climate 101 with Bill Nye the Science Guy (4:33) (click to open)
Documentary Movie: David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (83:00) (click to open)
Educator’s Portal – Lesson Plans


Documentary: River of Gold
This documentary chronicles the clandestine journey of two war journalists and their guide into Peru’s Amazon rainforest to uncover the savage destruction of pristine jungle in pursuit of illegally mined gold. The film makes clear the consequences of this devastation on a global scale. Magnificent photography of plants, animals, and people inspires audiences to engage in solutions to protect the Amazon.
Watch the movie trailer, 2:59
Curriculum guides available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Energy and Climate Change
In this lesson students will explore the connection between climate change and our energy consumption. Students will:
- Learn about the causes and impacts of climate change;
- Understand the link between Global Goals 7 and Global Goals 13;
- Learn to distinguish between human and naturally induced Greenhouse Gas Emissions;
- Identify the regions of the world that emit the most greenhouse gases.

Analyzing Environmental Justice
See how pollution disproportionately affects people experiencing poverty and members of racial and ethnic minorities. Explore reasons why people experiencing poverty and members of racial and ethnic minorities are often exposed to more pollution than others. Define environmental justice. Use a map to locate environmental injustice. Read graphs to learn about environmental discrimination. Think about solutions to environmental discrimination.

CYHU: Educators for the Environment
Can You Hear Us? (CYHU) is an impact organization for the documentary I AM GRETA, working to amplify local climate action efforts to save our planet. This Educator’s Toolkit includes practical tips on creating a more sustainable classroom; Simple questions to ask students to encourage climate literacy; Films to screen in the classroom; Book recommendations to get the conversation started; Additional links and resources for educators.
Contact the STF Team if you would like additional resources or can help us curate our teacher’s portal to your needs.
Photo credits: Sea Choi (page banner), Karina Duarte (Get Educated, Additional Educational Resources), Pixlr (Fast Facts), New York Times (Carbon Footprint), NRDC (In California) Can You Hear Us (Additional Educational Resources, Educator’s Portal), Youth4Climate Strike Philippines (Educator’s Portal)