Digital platform organises a younger generation of climate activists

By breathing a more positive message into the climate activism space, Earthrise hopes to stamp out the widespread eco-anxiety and reframe the narrative surrounding the crisis

Spotted: British activists and former YouTube celebrities, Jack and Finn Harries have joined forces with filmmaker Alice Aedy to launch an online community and platform focused on communicating the climate crisis. 

Earthrise will develop into curated content from journalists, scientists and storytellers, aiming to humanise the climate crisis and untangle the hard data, jargon and abstract graphs that have “for too long dominated the climate conversation.”

The trio’s social media audience of almost four million followers have watched them travel the world creating engaging content, win awards and involve themselves in Extinction Rebellion. Now, the London-based team wants to harness their online audience to build a platform that can infuse climate activism with a strong sense of diversity and optimism.  

Alice says that telling the stories of people already living on the frontlines of climate change is key to bringing home the severity of the situation and helps to tackle “this idea of, “Oh we’re f*** anyway. What’s the point? I’m just going to live my life.” 

“With Earthrise, it is fundamentally not about us or our personal narratives,” said Finn. “We are trying to amplify voices that are so often not able to participate in this conversation, incorporating broader social stories such as the inequality that has been revealed by Covid and Black Lives Matter”.

As part of the platform’s drive for inclusive conversations, Earthrise will include a strand led by Climate in Colour activist Josslyn Longdon, named the “Climate in Colonialism 101”. A podcast called “Down to Earth” will also be launched to spotlight people whose perspectives on the climate emergency are often left unheard within the wider community.

The long-term plan includes nationwide live events, like talks and workshops to engage and activate new generations. Given that within days of launching on Instagram Earthrise attracted over 20,000 followers, the prospects seem promising. 

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