Five years in, Climate Cardinals shows youth climate action is only getting started
New York City, NY — December 1, 2025 — As Climate Cardinals turns five, we’re releasing our 2025 Impact Report — demonstrating how youth climate action is becoming sharper, strategic, and built for long-term scalability. And despite today’s geopolitical challenges, one thing is clear: youth climate action is only getting started.
What began with passionate teenagers, $500, and a Google Form has become a global force breaking language barriers and advancing climate resilience for frontline communities, nature, and society.
“In just five years, we’ve grown into not only one of the largest youth-led climate organizations, but one of the largest climate education organizations in the world,” said Sophia Kianni, President of Climate Cardinals. “This milestone proves what young people make possible. We don’t know our limits — and that’s our power.”
This year, Climate Cardinals completed its first full year with staff and reached new levels of scale and impact:
19M+ people reached with our educational materials
Translated a cumulative 4M+ words through 145+ projects for partners like UNESCO and CARE International
60+ active chapters from Nepal to Ecuador and Uganda
Tens of thousands reached through new initiatives like Climate Calling and the Ambassadors Program
“Our volunteers are reshaping what climate action looks like — from hosting Nepal’s largest World Environment Day celebration to expanding climate education across Uganda, India, Ecuador, and beyond,” said Hikaru Wakeel Hayakawa, Executive Director of Climate Cardinals. “Five years in, we are sharper in our focus, bolder in our vision, and more collaborative than ever. And we’re only getting started.”
Climate Cardinals’ 2025 Impact Report reinforces a clear truth: language justice is climate justice — and even in a challenging geopolitical moment, young people are leading the way.
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Interested in learning more? Read our 2025 Impact Report here.
About Climate Cardinals
Climate Cardinals is the world’s largest youth-led climate education organization. We break language and action barriers in the climate movement so every community can take action and protect their future. With a volunteer community of 16,000 youth, Climate Cardinals has translated four million words of climate information into 105 languages for organizations like UNESCO, UNICEF, Yale, and the Italian Ministry of the Environment, led grassroots climate education initiatives in 70+ communities worldwide, and created multilingual climate action campaigns, reaching 19 million people in 145 countries.
For inquiries, please contact: [email protected].
