Grandparents for the Climate

Who are the Grandparents for the Climate?

Grandparents for the Climate (GvK) is an independent movement, socially engaged and committed. We are seniors, mostly grandparents, who want to pass on a liveable world to the next generations. With our activities, we want to raise awareness in society with our peers and together with others and call for action for an urgent and decisive climate policy. We have been enthusiastically supporting the climate marches and actions of young people since our start in January 2019.

The group grew into a pluralistic and independent citizens' movement. We have no ties to political or other interest groups or to companies. The operation is run by dedicated volunteers and is financed by membership contributions and donations.

Grandparents for the Climate is a member of the Climate Coalition, the Bond Beter Leefmilieu, the Flemish Council for the Elderly, Reset and 11.11.11. We work closely with our French-speaking sister organisation Grands-Parents pour le climat. Together with them and the Dutch organisation, we are currently working on a European partnership of Grandparents for the Climate.

Mission
We want a liveable and sustainable society for our grandchildren that respects the planet's carrying capacity. That is why we strive, in an independent and pluralistic context, to increase the social support for a decisive change in the population's behaviour and an ambitious European, federal, Flemish and local climate policy. This policy must take into account the scientific insights, including those contained in the reports of the IPCC, the Climate Panel of the United Nations. In any case, the European objective of being climate neutral by 2050 at the latest must be respected.

Vision
Climate policy must put the transition, that is, the transition to a sustainable society, firmly on track. This means intervening in the economy, agriculture and culture of society, such as carbon-free and renewable energy sources, consumption in accordance with the carrying capacity of the earth and interventions in cities and villages, such as greening and cooling by visible water.
The transition must be just and social, i.e. it must not make the economically and socially weaker members of our society and the countries in the South even more vulnerable. 
Climate justice is for GvK just as it is for 11.11.11 and the entire national and international climate movement the central objective. The sustainable society will be just, or it will not be.