Alexandria Villaseñor

Alexandria Villaseñor (born 18 May 2005) is an American climate activist living in New York City. A follower of the Fridays for Future movement and of fellow climate activist Greta Thunberg,[1] Villaseñor is a co-founder of US Youth Climate Strike and founder of Earth Uprising.[2]

Alexandria Villaseñor
Villaseñor receiving 2019 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation award
Born (2005-05-18) 18 May 2005
Davis, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationStudent
Environmental activist
Known forSchool strike for climate

Biography

Villaseñor was born in 2005 in Davis, California, where she grew up.[3][4] The family moved from northern California to New York City during 2018.[5] Villaseñor is Latina.[6] Her goal is to one day work for the United Nations.[7]

Activism

Villaseñor's fight for climate action was sparked when she was caught in a smoke cloud from the November 2018 Camp Fire in California during a family visit. As an asthma sufferer, she became physically ill, during which time she researched the climate change and temperature rises which contributed to the fire's severity.[4] Her mother was enrolled for climate change courses at Columbia University and she sat in on those, learning about the underlying science.[8] Soon afterward, she joined New York's chapter of Zero Hour, a group of American youth climate activists.[4]

Villaseñor has taken similar climate action to Thunberg, who inspired her with her 4 December 2018 talk at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland. Since 14 December 2018 (while COP24 was still held),[4] she skips school every Friday in order to protest against lack of climate action in front of the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York.[9] She is no longer involved with the US Youth Climate Strike group[10] and founded the climate change education group Earth Uprising.[11]

In May 2019, Villaseñor was the recipient of the Disruptor Award from the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards (TDIA),[12] received a scholarship from The Common Good public advocacy organization,[13][14] and was awarded a Youth Climate Leadership prize from Earth Day Network.[15]

When Thunberg arrived to New York City from her transatlantic sailboat voyage in August 2019, Villaseñor, Xiye Bastida, and other climate activists greeted Thunberg upon arrival.[16] By that time, they had already established contact with each other over social media.[17]

On 23 September 2019, Villaseñor, along with 15 other youth activists including Greta Thunberg, Catarina Lorenzo, and Carl Smith, filed a legal complaint with the United Nations accusing five countries, namely France, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey of failing to uphold their reduction targets to which they committed in their Paris Agreement pledges.[18][19]

In mid-October 2019, she attended the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark.[20]

References
  1. Kaplan, Sarah (16 February 2019). "How a 7th-grader's strike against climate change exploded into a movement". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  2. "Alexandria Villaseñor". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  3. Milman, Oliver (12 March 2019). "'We won't stop striking': the New York 13 year-old taking a stand over climate change". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  4. Kaplan, Sarah (16 February 2019). "How a 7th-grader's strike against climate change exploded into a movement". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  5. Piven, Ben (15 March 2019). "Beware the kids: US youth to join strike for climate". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  6. "Meet Alexandria Villaseñor, the Young Woman Inspiring People to Take Action on the Climate Change Crisis". Glitter Magazine. 24 June 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  7. Minutaglio, Rose (14 March 2019). "The World Is Burning. These Girls Are Fighting to Save It". Elle. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  8. Borunda, Alejandra (13 March 2019). "These young activists are striking to save their planet from climate change". National Geographic. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  9. Berardelli, Jeff; Ott, Haley (22 February 2019). "Meet the teens leading a global movement to ditch school and fight climate change". CBS News. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  10. "Our Co Executive Directors & National Co-Directors". US Youth Climate Strike. Archived from the original on 17 March 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  11. Stuart, Tessa (26 April 2019). "A New Generation of Activists Is Taking the Lead on Climate Change". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  12. "Tribeca Film Festival and Disruptor Foundation announce 10th anniversary awards and youngest recipient in TDIA history" (Press release). New York: Disruptor Foundation. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  13. "The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards – May 10, 2019". The Common Good. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  14. "Alexandria Villaseñor". The Common Good. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  15. "14-Year-Old Alexandria Villaseñor Has Been Striking Outside UN Headquarters for 5 Months. Here's Why". Earth Day Network. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  16. Lela Nargi (9 September 2019). "Greta Thunberg's New York visit inspires young climate activists". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  17. Lela Nargi (22 September 2019). "14-åriga klimataktivisten Alexandria Villaseñor om vänskapen med Greta Thunberg". Expressen. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  18. "Why Teen Climate Activist Alexandria Villaseñor Is Suing the World For Violating Her Rights". Earther. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  19. "16 children, including Greta Thunberg, file landmark complaint to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  20. "Press Conferences". C40 World Mayors Summit. 10 October 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
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