“Dear world leaders, this is an emergency. We are activists from different causes across the world, writing as one for the first time to demand your immediate action in this critical year.” Those are the first words from the Global Goals letter, released yesterday.
The letter, titled Dear world, we are watching you, is a frustrated demand of world leaders and the general public to do more. It originates from an assembly of environmental advocates including Nobel peace laureates Malala Yousafzai and Nadia Murad and environmental icon Dr. Jane Goodall DBE.
An open letter urging immediate action has been written as part of the Global Goals organisation, signed by 20 esteemed activists.
The 2000 supporters include actors like Emma Watson, Simon Baker, Julia Roberts and Keira Knightly, as well as students, volunteers, entrepreneurs and artists. As well as rising temperatures and natural disasters, the message addresses social issues of gender inequality and extreme poverty.
Accompanying the letter is a campaign film, directed by Richard Curtis, who describes the Global Goals as “the historic plan to defeat poverty, fix inequality and combat the climate crisis.” The film calls out the 193 countries that committed to the Global Goals for Sustainable Development 5 years ago, demanding them, “How will you keep your promise?”
The letter was published shortly after the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world was still “off-track” , that we face an “existential climate crisis” and “Our world is edging closer to the point of no return.”
A full list of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals can be found here.
