Congratulations to sixth-grade student, Jade Lan, for winning second place in the World of 8 Billion national video contest challenge! 

Jade, who attends Coleytown Middle School, was inspired to create a video on environmental justice after reading a New York Times article about a young Houston family losing their recently-purchased home due to a natural disaster. She thought it was unfair that more affordable houses are often built in places that are more directly impacted by climate change/natural disasters. Before making her video, entitled “Monitoring Climate Injustice,” Jade was not aware of the growing population or its connections to climate change. She was shocked to learn that the countries that put out the least amount of emissions are also the ones most affected by climate change impacts.

The World of 8 Billion student video contest is a project of Population Education, a non-profit program based in Washington DC. This year, the organization received over 25,000 student-made videos that explain how population growth impacts one of the following global topics: Climate Change, Gender Equality, and Waste. In the video, students are also asked to offer an idea for a sustainable solution. 

Jade’s video provides an excellent overview of the impact of population growth on climate change as well as her solution to keep countries accountable towards their commitments to change – a global progress dashboard. Check it out below!

Congratulations to Jade! Thank you for being a Sustainable Westport Superstar!