Climate activist Sophia Kianna hopes to translate scientific environmental literature into over 100 languages with her organization, Climate Cardinals.
Kianna disclosed this in an interview on Net Zero, a project where two dozen youth climate activists strive to hold world leaders to their pledge to reach net zero carbon emissions by the year 2050. It was uploaded as a video on the YouTube channel of the environmental advocacy organization, Planet Classroom, in association with Protect Our Planet (POP).
Climate Cardinals is a grassroots organization started by Kianne which seeks to translate scientific environmental literature into over 100 languages.
Why is translating scientific environmental literature important?
In the interview, hosted by activist Philo Magdalene, Kianne justifies the need for the work her organization does by explaining that, “when [she joined] the UN Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, [she] learned that the six UN languages account for less than half the world’s speaking population… And in addition to that, 75% of the world doesn’t speak English but 80% of scientific literature is only available in English.”
“When [she joined] the UN Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, [she] learned that the six UN languages account for less than half the world’s speaking population… And in addition to that, 75% of the world doesn’t speak English but 80% of scientific literature is only available in English.”
Sophia Kianne
Kianne went on to explain that she believes this is important because facilitating education on the climate will empower people around the world, who wouldn’t otherwise have access to the information, to mobilize in support of climate change action.
At its core, Kianne views Climate Cardinals as an “advocacy tool” to be used “to make institutions like the United Nations and… large grassroots climate organizations aware” of the need for climate information to be available in a much wider range of languages.
In the interview, Kianne also advocated for young people to get involved in climate activism and suggested that education curriculums should focus more on the responsibility that the fossil fuel industry and, capitalism in general, have in worsening climate change.
Finally, she expressed how she views her work as an expression of climate justice and hopes to ensure “that everyone everywhere has access to basic climate education.”
The full interview is available on YouTube. Whether it be for the goal of reaching net zero emissions or to empower more people to be involved in the push for a healthier planet, one thing is clear to both Kianne and Magdalene: everyone is needed.
The Environment and Climate Change portal is produced in cooperation with the Goldman Sonnenfeldt School of Sustainability and Climate Change at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. The Jerusalem Post maintains all editorial decisions related to the content.
