Why Climate Commons?

Public awareness about the threat of climate change is on the rise, but the global need to help people around the world understand, reduce, and prepare for the threats posed by a changing climate is vast - and urgent.

Many people do not have access to the information and knowledge they need, particularly those in rural areas, international educators and scholars, and members of underrepresented communities. This Hub is designed to be a library of educational resources about climate change and intersectional topics. The key element of these materials is that they are available under a copyright license that allows for free sharing and customization - providing more equitable access to students and heavily impacted communities around the world, as well as unlocking the power of educators to add cultural relevancy and local context - ultimately allowing more people to more deeply interact and collaborate with the material and issues we face.

Voices of Climate

Climate Science, Risk, & Solutions

Climate Knowledge for Everyone

More than 90% of climate scientists attribute the increase in global temperature over the past 30-40 years to greenhouse gases that humans have been adding to the atmosphere since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s. The great majority of these scientists agree that if this warming continues, it presents significant risks to humankind and all life on Earth: to our cities and towns, our water and food supplies, and our health. How do we know that this warming is happening and that it’s caused by humans? How strong is the evidence? What risks can we expect and what can we do about them?

Visit the MIT Climate Science, Risk, and Solutions site.

Dr. Kerry Emanuel
Professor of Atmospheric Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Archana Soreng: Our voice matters

Climate activist Archana Soreng belongs to the Kharia tribe in Odisha, India. Indigenous communities like hers make up only 5 percent of the world’s population. But they protect more than 20 percent of our planet’s land and 80 percent of its biodiversity.

“For us, young people, it's very important to embrace identity, to know our traditional knowledge and practices to preserve it, protect it, and advocate for the participation of indigenous people and local communities in the climate decision-making processes, because we are the ones who are most contributing to it (climate action), yet, we are the ones who are most affected by it (climate change),” says Archana who was selected by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2020 to become one of the seven young people with diverse backgrounds and expertise to join his Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.

From the United Nations Climate Action