Across Australia and the Pacific, young people are stepping up to protect their homes, their futures, and their planet.
Climate change is no longer a distant concern. It’s here disrupting education, displacing families, and endangering lives. Pacific nations, despite contributing just a fraction of global emissions, face the most severe impacts: rising seas, more severe cyclones, floods and droughts are threatening communities, cultures and livelihoods.
In Australia too, young people are living with the reality of a changing climate, from the bushfires that destroy schools and communities, to the anxiety of an uncertain future. But these Future Proofers are not standing still. They’re taking action and using their voices to call for urgent climate action. They’re reminding our leaders that protecting the planet means protecting children’s rights.
We are proud to share the voices of these Future Proofers, and are grateful to our community whose support has helped equip these young people with the skills to change the world.
Gabrielle
As a Next Gen Youth Ambassador with Save the Children, 16-year-old Gabrielle has already represented young people on the global stage – including at COP29. She lives in Vanuatu, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations, where more severe cyclones than ever are threatening people’s lives. Gabrielle also depends on regular, refrigerated medicine, as she lives with type one diabetes. And with every power outage caused by a cyclone, she loses her supplies of that vital, life-sustaining medication.
Gabrielle believes children’s voices must be central to climate decisions, saying: “Knowing what the youth think is knowing what the leaders of tomorrow will think”. For Gabrielle, advocating for climate justice is about fairness, equality, and survival for future generations.
Sophia
23-year-old Sophia grew up in Tasmania. When she was ten, bushfires tore through her community and destroyed her primary school. That experience shaped her understanding of climate change.
“It made me realise the effects of these disasters,” she said. “And the broader impacts that they have on communities, on young generations, on future generations as well.”
As a Save the Children Youth Advisor, Sophia champions everyday activism: “No matter how minor you feel your action is, all of that is contributing to this overall goal that we have for creating better futures for ourselves and for the generations that come after us as well.”
Kereama
In New Zealand, 16-year-old Kereama has seen climate change transform his community’s river from a vibrant blue-green paradise to a polluted brown – a deep cultural loss for Māori people, who see the river as a living entity.
“It's supposed to be treated with the same respect that a human would be,” he said. “So it pains me to see it being treated so poorly.”
As a national coordinator for School Strike 4 Climate NZ and a Generation Hope ambassador with Save the Children, he is driven by: “It’s just really amazing to see,” he says, “how dedicated people can be when they realise there’s a problem that needs to be fixed.”
Standing with the Future Proofers
These three young people, and others like them around the world, are making sure decision-makers remember that protecting children’s rights and protecting the planet are one and the same. And they’re showing the world what real leadership looks like: courageous, compassionate, and hopeful. Inspiring young people like these are making sure the environment remains a top priority at elections, and that local and international policies reflect commitments to climate justice,
Now it’s our turn. Let’s vote, spend, and live with children’s futures in mind.
Let’s amplify their voices and call for a safer, fairer world for every child.