No Planet B: Teen Vogue’s New Anthology Offers Insights Into The Climate Justice Movement

Politically charged young adult magazine Teen Vogue recently published ‘No Planet B: A Teen Vogue Guide to the Climate Crisis’, a new anthology that sheds light on climate justice and the youth-led fight for our future.

Compiled by politics editor Lucy Diavolo and released by Haymarket Books, the book, dubbed ‘No Planet B’, contains 28 articles from 21 contributors including Teen Vogue staff Lindsay Peoples-Wagner, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, Allegra Kirkland, and Allison Maloney.

The book looks at climate change through an intersectional lens of critical feminism, indigenous communities and anti-racist voices.

Lending her thoughts to the foreword, former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief, Lindsay Peoples Wagner writes: “I hope that this book embodies Teen Vogue’s motto of making young people feel seen and heard all over the world. I hope that it forces their parents, communities, loved ones, friends, and—most importantly—those in power to see that the health of our planet depends on how quickly and drastically we change our behaviors. I hope it forces them all to respond.”

The book gives the readers a closer look into the lives of those that are pushing the government to take action on climate change. From an insider look at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to in-depth glimpses of what’s happening in the Arctic, readers can also read young Swedish activist’s Greta Thunberg take on climate change. Pieces will also touch upon environmental racism, and why climate change is a labor issue.

Writing in the introduction, Diavolo shares about the three key aspects of the climate justice movement. “Reporting, activism, and intersectionality — form the guideposts for this collection just as they have guided and continue to guide our coverage day in and day out. Accuracy, advocacy, and equity are foundational pillars to any movement seeking justice, and the climate justice movement of these last several years has embodied them all.”

Reporting, activism, and intersectionality — form the guideposts for this collection just as they have guided and continue to guide our coverage day in and day out. Accuracy, advocacy, and equity are foundational pillars to any movement seeking justice, and the climate justice movement of these last several years has embodied them all.

Introduction: by Teen Vogue Politics Editor Lucy Diavolo

Nick Estes, co-founder of Red Nation, an Indigenous resistance organization, said that the book offers proof that this isn’t our grandparent’s environmental movement. “Climate justice is young, queer, Black, Indigenous, and militant. No Planet B demonstrates it is inexorably linked to racial justice, decolonization, and abolition. There’s no turning back.”

WE ACT For Environmental Justice executive director & co-founder Peggy Shepard shared her view on the book calling it as a plain language book for the complex issue of climate change and the diverse topics engendered by this and the struggle for climate justice. “No Planet B presents that and more﹣ a context and a landscape of voices of young activists who define the issues, tell their stories and concerns about the disrupting effects of climate change on our lives, our health, and the future of our world. The essays span the globe and focus on an array of topics in the nexus of climate, environment, and the human condition. It features activists from all walks of life and is inspirational in its call to action.”

The youth are doing everything to catch the governments’ and the world’s attention from a photo of a girl in a hoodie, skipping school to sit in front of a government building; to a video of dozens of young people clustered together in U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office, to countless images, videos, and posts on social media from young activists belonging to 125 countries, calling on the leaders of the world to focus their actions towards mitigating the effects of climate change.

Recently, one million young people around the world urged governments to make climate change the first priority and execute the measures that will help protect the world against the effects of global warming.

In December of last year, the UN Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change compiled a report highlighting the need for greater investments in green jobs. Vladislav Kaim, a member of the Youth Advisory Group underlined the findings: “The report shows that the climate and health crises are unfolding together with the youth unemployment crisis, and there is a lot of concern that green jobs and a just transition are not being prioritized in COVID stimulus packages. Many young people are worried that progress on these fronts can be held back by greenwashing.”

Last November, the Global Grad Show kicked off in Dubai to present 100 graduate projects from around the world that are designed to bring solutions to environmental and socio-economic issues. If you want to feel inspired about the state of the world and what our youth have in mind for a better future, check out the article here.

Lead image courtesy of Lucy Diavolo.