Fast Action on Climate to Ensure Intergenerational Justice
Mission
As a subset of IGSD and the Center for Human Rights & Environment (CHRE), Fast Action on Climate to Ensure Intergenerational Justice (FACE Intergenerational Justice) is an initiative focusing on the intersection of climate and environmental justice as it relates to “fast action” climate mitigation strategies to preserve the planet for future generations. Its work encourages youth-led, inclusive, and intersectional discussions on climate change mitigation, resilience, and adaptation strategies pertinent to the most affected people and areas. A climate justice-based approach to climate change solutions demands fast-acting policies, investments, and other support for solutions that consider the immediate needs of historically marginalized communities and addresses the climate crisis before self-reinforcing feedbacks push the planet past irreversible tipping points. Within this fast-acting climate mitigation framework, reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) plays a central role in achieving justice for these communities and quickly alleviating the immediate harms frontline communities face.
Vision
FACE Intergenerational Justice advocates for the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment for all people of present and future generations, through empowering youth-led solutions to climate and environmental justice. We take a three-pillar approach focusing on Outreach, Education, and Support. These pillars are built on the foundation of climate and environmental justice and IGSD’s theory of action stressing the need to combine the fast mitigation sprint with the longer decarbonization marathon to address the ethical issues of intra-generational equity by giving societies urgently needed time to adapt to unavoidable changes and build resilience.
For Spanish see: Acción Rápida Climática para Asegurar Justicia Intergeneracional
Chairs
Amelia Murphy (she/her) is the Assistant to the President at IGSD, and a founding co-chair of the Fast Action on Climate to Ensure Intergenerational Justice (FACE Intergenerational Justice) initiative. She assists IGSD in a variety of administrative and supportive roles, including providing research, writing, and editing support. Amelia is also Board Director at the Center for Human Rights and the Environment (CHRE). Amelia has been working to advance environmental and climate justice through fast mitigation solutions at the local, national, and international level for over 6 years in various roles at the CHRE, McGill University, and local government in Nantucket, MA. Amelia holds a B.A.S.c. in Sustainability, Science, and Society from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. She is proficient in Spanish.
Caitlan Frederick (she/her) is a Research Associate at IGSD, and a founding co-chair of the Fast Action on Climate to Ensure Intergenerational Justice (FACE Intergenerational Justice) initiative. Her research includes mitigation of methane and other short-lived climate pollutants, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors such as waste and agriculture. Caitlan previously worked with Veerabhadran Ramanathan, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), on life cycle emissions from food waste. She served as the undergraduate student representative for UCSD’s first Campus Climate Change Committee. Caitlan holds a B.S. in Marine Biology and Climate Change Studies from UCSD. She is proficient in American Sign Language.
Trina Chiemi Thorbjornsen (she/they) is a Research Associate at IGSD, and a founding co-chair of the Fast Action on Climate to Ensure Intergenerational Justice (FACE Intergenerational Justice) initiative. Her research includes exploring fast-acting climate mitigation strategies with a focus on short-lived climate pollutants and environmental justice. They are the co-author of the final chapter of Cut Super Climate Pollutants Now!: The Ozone Treaty’s Urgent Lessons for Speeding Up Climate Action (Miller, Andersen, & Zaelke 2021). Trina holds a B.A. in Political Science and Peace, War, and Defense from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a joint minor with Duke University in Politics, Philosophy, & Economics. Currently, she is a J.D. candidate at Vermont Law School. Trina is fluent in Japanese and English.
