Vic Barrett

Vic Barrett is fighting hard for a future for all of us. Barrett witnessed the reality of climate change firsthand, as he was among the many impacted by the climate change fueled superstorm Hurricane Sandy in 2012, which left his family and school without power. Barrett became involved in activism in high school as a member of Global Kids, an organization that focuses on developing leadership skills for youth. Barrett then became a Fellow with the Alliance for Climate Education and spoke at the COP21 UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris in 2015, at the age of 15. Barrett was among 400,000 participants in the People’s Climate March in NYC and delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in support of sustainable development goals.

With all of these achievements under his belt before age 18, Barrett has his eyes set on his biggest target to date: The federal government. Barrett is one of 21 youth activists between the ages of 10 and 21 suing the government to take action on climate change in Juliana Vs. United States. The lawsuit states that the government has violated youth rights by allowing activities harmful to the climate and asks the federal government to enact progressive changes to current carbon dioxide emissions. Barrett understands that his generation will be impacted by the policies and decisions of older generations refusing to combat climate change, and that we must make meaningful changes towards a sustainable environment. Most recently, Barrett spoke at the NYC Climate Strike and told a crowd of at least 100,000 why climate justice needs to be highlighted, centering black, brown, and indigenous voices.

Barrett has spoken at the American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Museum, the United Nations, Friends Seminary, Yale University, Boston College, University of Wisconsin, Madison, on the Generator Series w/ Ilana Glazer, as well as keynoting at the Wired25 and Planet Home conferences in San Francisco. He has also presented before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C.