Meet the next generation of global climate activists

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February 16, 2021

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Oprah Winfrey lands the Harry and Meghan interview, there’s another Britney Spears doc in the works, and we hear from young climate activists fighting for the future of our planet. Have a thoughtful Tuesday.

– Call to action. Today, for Fortune, is all about the climate. We have a new climate package on the site, guest-edited by Bill Gates in honor of his new book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.

I recommend checking out the full package for insights ranging from Vivienne Walt’s piece on why it matters that the U.S. rejoined the Paris climate agreement to the biggest clean tech trends in 2021. For a wonkier take on climate change, read Katherine Dunn’s interview with Alexis Abramson, the dean of Dartmouth College’s Thayer School of Engineering. Abramson’s passion is an underreported corner of the climate crisis: buildings. Both construction of new structures and operations of existing ones contribute to climate change, and it’s one area where Abramson says we haven’t seen much innovation.

For my contribution to this effort, I spoke to young climate activists who are shaping the next wave of climate activism. Many of them were first inspired to get involved by Greta Thunberg, but now they’re taking matters into their own hands. From Uganda to the U.S., their approaches to activism are influenced by the most urgent needs they see in their own communities.

Twins Asheer and Asees Kandhari, both 17, told me about growing up with an activist mother in New Delhi and fighting against air pollution for as long as they can remember. They’re both national-level basketball players, and their tournaments are often canceled because of high air pollution levels. “There are so many countries, especially European countries, where you don’t see the impact of the climate crisis or the people who are already suffering from it,” Asheer told me she realized after attending the C40 climate summit in Copenhagen in 2019. “But to us, there’s no question of the crisis. Even when we were kids, it was always there.”

In Scotland, 15-year-old Holly Gillibrand has been striking from school as part of Thunberg’s Fridays for Future movement since she was 13. In her community near Fort William, she was often the only one, but before lockdowns hit last year her group of strikers had grown to 10. Her goals for 2021 are ambitious; she says we “can’t set just one” because “this is a crisis. We have to start treating this like an emergency.”

See the rest of the package here.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

Today’s Broadsheet was curated by Claire Zillman.

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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES

- Get on board. Norway's $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, is telling companies it invests in to add more women to their boards and consider setting a target if fewer than 30% of directors are female. “We may phrase it politely, but it is pretty clear what we think,” Chief Executive Nicolai Tangen said. Reuters

- Royal occasion. Oprah Winfrey has landed the first televised interview with Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex since the couple quit their royal duties and moved to the U.S. last year. The pair, who announced this weekend that they're expecting their second child, will sit for a 90-minute primetime special with Winfrey, which is set to air on CBS on March 7. Associated Press

- Power moms. In her new book, Power Moms: How Executive Mothers Navigate Work, longtime Wall Street Journal columnist Joann Lublin explores how motherhood transforms many women into better leaders. Read an excerpt here: Fortune

- The Mori effect? Sexist comments from politicians in Japan usually don't turn out how Yoshiro Mori's did—with his resignation. Japan watchers are now speculating that the departure of the Tokyo 2020 chief—over his remarks about women talking too much—may signal a new era for gender equality in the male-dominated country. But others say the foreign pressure, especially from Olympic sponsors, is what made the difference in this case. Financial Times

MOVERS AND SHAKERS: The World Trade Organization has formally selected Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's former finance minister, as its first woman and first African leader. Full Harvest hired former Travelzoo president Shirley Versen as chief revenue officer. Payment provider Splitit added Adidas SVP, commercial Vanessa LeFebvre as a board director and named On Campus Marketing CEO Dawn Robertson chair of the board.

CONTENT FROM PWC

What’s keeping companies from doing better?

Sixty-eight percent of leaders believe their business serves the greater good, but only 15% of the wider public agrees. We need to act to help close the gap. We recently surveyed US business leaders, employees and the public to understand what fosters and inhibits trust. These findings shaped actionable steps to help companies fight for social justice and take action, Now.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

- Collision course. The closing days of former President Donald Trump's impeachment hearing put a surprise spotlight on Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R–Wash.), who released a statement that recalled House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy telling Herrera Beutler of his phone conversation with Trump during the Capitol attack. On the call, Trump told McCarthy the rioters were "more upset about the election than you are." The statement could set Herrera Beutler on a collision course with her own party. NPR

- Dueling docs. Were you glued to the New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears? You're in luck. Another Britney documentary is in the works, this time by Netflix and filmmaker Erin Lee Carr. The Netflix project doesn't have a release date yet and was underway before the NYT's doc debuted. Bloomberg

- Under arrest. Farmer protests over India's market reforms have ensnarled a young activist named Disha Ravi, who was arrested over an online "toolkit" that listed ways supporters can help the ongoing demonstrations. It's not clear what Ravi has been charged with. Now prominent figures are expressing outrage over her detention. CNN

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