Seed is Australia’s first Indigenous youth climate network. We are building a movement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people for climate justice with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Our vision is for a just and sustainable future with strong cultures and communities, powered by renewable energy. Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing humanity, but we also know it is an opportunity to create a more just and sustainable world.
Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing humanity, but we also know it is an opportunity to create a more just and sustainable world. In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are at the forefront of climate change, and as young people it’s our generation with the most at stake. It’s our communities on the frontline who need to be at the forefront of change; leading the solutions and building a society that is healthier, cleaner, more just and puts people before profits. That’s why we launched Seed: Australia’s first Indigenous youthled climate network. We are building a movement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people for climate justice with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Our vision is for a just and sustainable future with strong cultures and communities, powered by renewable energy.
Seed and AYCC
The growth of the Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network is supported by the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC). Alongside the AYCC, we educate, inspire and empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to lead climate campaigns and projects across the country. We do this by reducing barriers to involvement through outreach and training, mentoring and leadership opportunities. The Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) is an independent nonprofit organisation with 120,000 members and over 1000 active volunteers nationally. Seed is an example of AYCC’s commitment to building a generation wide movement that sees those who are most affected by the issue at the forefront of change. Through building the youth climate movement together, Seed and the AYCC enact our values of inclusivity, diversity, equity and social justice in all aspects of our work.
Climate Justice
Climate change is an issue of environmental and social justice. It is an issue that affects everybody but the impacts are not evenly distributed. Too often it’s the people who have contributed the least to the causes of climate change that are facing the most severe impacts. Lowincome people, communities of colour, women, youth and in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia are on the frontlines of this crisis. It’s our communities that are hit first and worst, not only by the impacts of climate change but the impacts of extractive, polluting and wasteful industries that are devastating our country and fuelling the climate crisis. Alongside the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, we are committed to just solutions to the climate crisis, addressing systemic inequality and working in solidarity with those who are the most impacted.
Why Seed
Seeds need to be planted in the earth in order to sprout, grow and produce more seeds representing our strong connection to country as well as a cycle that has been going on for tens of thousands of years. We’re building this movement for our country, for our people and for our culture. Many Indigenous communities around the world are facing the loss of sacred country, culture and rights to make decisions that affect this land. We also know that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have looked after the land sustainably in the past, which gives us hope that we can do it again. As elders of the future, it is so important that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people stand up for climate justice and have access to mentoring and supported leadership opportunities to do so. Over half the population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are under 25. Increasingly young people are leading the way in many areas of social change for our communities and as Seed, we are committed to ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are supported to lead the movement for climate justice and ensure our voice is heard on issues that affect our future.