Name: Kian Jordan

Social Justice Group: 2023-2024, Climate Change: Rising Sea Levels / Plastic Pollution

Date of Fieldwork: January 26, 2024

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Keanu Arpels-Josiah – Senior at LREI high school and local climate activist

Type of Fieldwork: [69]

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?:

For our social justice project fieldwork, the two climate justice social justice groups interviewed Keanu Arpels-Josiah, a senior at the LREI high school, who participates in local climate justice protests. He is also in the Fridays For Future NYC group, and the Sunrise Movement NYC group. We met in the LREI high school library at the end of the day, when it was emptying out. He talked a lot about climate activism in NYC.

One of the things he said that I found most interesting was that climate change will only be solved at a political level, once we have cut 100% of fossil emissions, no matter how much recycling and raising awareness we do. I found this interesting because it opened my eyes to get more involved in the scene. For example, join large groups, sign petitions, and go to protests.

He also said that while climate change’s effects are not so apparent within the walls of major cities, poorer parts of the world are already feeling its effects in negative ways. If the owners of major fossil fuel companies keep greeding their money and monopoly, civilization could collapse faster than we could see coming. The global north is most responsible for emissions emitted, and the global south is feeling the consequences the most.