With global temperatures on the rise, the Arctic’s sea ice melting steadily, and our oceans becoming more acidic, climate change is naturally one of the biggest issues confronting the world today.

It’s important to recognize that humans are almost certainly the cause. In 2014, the United Nations’ International Panel on Climate Change found that it was extremely likely (like, greater than 95% probability) that global warming is a direct result of human activity since the mid-20th century. It also found that this warming is proceeding at an unprecedented rate.

The yearly global land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.13F per decade since 1880, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual 2018 global climate report. However, the average rate of increase since 1981 has more than doubled to 0.31F, and the 10 warmest years on record were all between 1998 and 2016.

Kids aren’t unaware of these issues. And according to a Viacom survey of 5,724 kids across 30 countries, 74% of six- to 11-year-olds said they care “a lot” about the environment, and 45% are worried they’re not doing enough to protect it.

The industry as a whole is rising up to address these issues. Kidscreen chatted with the BBC, CBC and PBS about how to make good environmentally themed shows. Toycos, meanwhile, have got the ball rolling on going green with new products and initiatives. Content creators around the world are starting to tell stories about sustainability aimed at kids, including the seven shows we’re featuring in this issue. We also took a look behind the scenes at what companies are doing to be more eco-friendly in their day-to-day operations. The stories will be rolling out all this week in the Daily newsletter and on the website under the tag Going Green.

But we’re not just talking the talk. Kidscreen is on a five-year mission to reduce our waste/carbon emissions at the Summit. This year’s Kidscreen Greenup initiatives include cutting out plastic straws, cups and bottles; introducing Meatless Monday and recyclable paper cups; and offsetting the cost of carbon emissions for our team’s flights to Miami through a donation to environment advocacy group Gold Standard, which supports green initiatives throughout the world.

If you’re ready to be inspired by your fellow kid industry colleagues, or if you want to know how you can join our efforts and green up your own businesses, then be sure to tune in to our series of eco-focused stories running this week.

Image from Unsplash