On the final day of COP25, March for Science launched the #ScienceNotSilence campaign in response to the IPCC’s 1.5C Report being blocked at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference in Madrid. In partnership with the government of the Independent State of Samoa and several leading international organizations, March For Science called on government leaders to 1) publicly embrace the IPCC 1.5C Report, 2) raise climate goals accordingly, and 3) implement public policies and create public-private partnerships to achieve success.
Unfortunately, the United States government has been actively involved in undermining the IPCC 1.5C Report. At COP24 in Poland, the US refused to endorse the report’s findings. The Trump Administration continued efforts to discredit climate science means it is imperative that US presidential candidates demonstrate their commitment to championing science-informed public policies in general and the IPCC 1.5C Report specifically.
In an effort to empower science advocates, March For Science launched the SNS platform for citizens around the world to contact their government officials. Developed by our partners Phone2Action, the platform auto populates the email addresses of supporters’ elected officials based on their home address.
On Monday, January 13th, March For Science formally called on presidential candidates of both parties to join the #ScienceNotSilence campaign and updated our SNS platform so that they’ll also receive a message from supporters who use the engagement tool. We are thrilled to announce that The National Children’s Campaign, which advocates for young people and empowers youth voices across the country, has joined the Science Not Silence campaign as an organizational partner. The NCC is specifically pushing for presidential candidates to reiterate how they will use the evidence from the IPCC 1.5 Degree Report to influence their climate solutions based on scientific recommendations and studies.
We are less than 100 days away from Earth Day, and the clock continues to wind down on reversing the effects of climate change. Time is a crucial factor when it comes to climate adaptation and mitigation, and whoever is elected in the United States’ 2020 election will impact the world’s trajectory for meeting United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030 goals. We hope you’ll join us in the fight for science-informed public policies by calling on elected officials and candidates to join the #ScienceNotSilence campaign!
In solidarity,
Chet
Chet Monday
Director of Youth Engagement
March For Science
