Grandparents For Future Austria was founded in the summer of 2020. We currently have about 20 active members, mostly located in and around Vienna. There are also some twenty inactive sympathizers who are in contact with us but for one reason or the other are unable to attend our meetings.

Our aim is to support the young generation, our kids and grandchildren, in their fight for a liveable future. To this end we go to protest marches, we talk to relevant stakeholders like politicians, we write comments for major Austrian newspapers and we organize workshops and lectures.

Since we are aware of the great urgency of the fight against climate change and of the need to unite forces, we are part of the Alliances of Fridays for Future Austria,  including For Future groups like Parents, Teachers, Scientists, Artists, Seniors, Doctors and many more. By joining forces with these groups we will have an even larger impact with our activities.

Grootouders voor het Klimaat (Grandparents for Climate) is an independent movement in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, socially concerned and committed. We are senior citizens, mostly grandparents, eager to ensure that we are passing on a liveable world to future generations. Through our activities, we raise awareness in society and call for action for urgent and decisive climate policies. We have been enthusiastically supporting youth climate marches and actions since we began our activities in January 2019. The group grew into a pluralistic and independent citizens’ movement. We have no ties to political or other interest groups or companies. Our movement runs on passionate volunteers and is funded by member contributions and donations.

Grootouders voor het Klimaat is a member of the Belgian Climate Coalition. We cooperate with many social organizations and civil society. We were awarded the Civil Society Prize 2021 by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and received the Ultima culture prize for socio-cultural adult work from the Flemish Government in 2022.

We are based all over Flanders (Belgium) and count on many regional and local branches. We are incorporated as a non-profit organization (“vzw”) under Belgian law. Our website is a key information tool, complemented by weekly newsletters and daily posts on the main social media. Our actions include demonstrations, petitions, legal action, various creative initiatives and direct contact with stakeholders. The issues cover public policies, industry, financial actors, environment, biodiversity, open space, pollution of land, air and water…

We are openly supported by some 150 well-known Flemish persons, with a wide experience and network. They act as our ambassadors.

GPC was created in 2015 in the French speaking part of Belgium and counts 1,200 members. With an official not-for-profit-organization status and no link to any political party, it has neither a philosophical position nor any religious affiliation. The board consists of twelve members who convene on a monthly basis to decide on future actions of the movement and to assess the results obtained from previous events.

The members are committed to personally adopt and advocate a way of life that respects the resources and limits of the planet by embracing the values of sobriety, social justice and intergenerational and international solidarity. They cultivate and transmit the values of respect and solidarity for the planet to grandchildren; making other seniors aware of the environmental and climate emergency through dialogue and the dissemination of information while highlighting positive individual and collective choices that promote a just transition. They also advocate publicly and politically to put pressure on decision makers at all levels of political and economic power. To this end, GPC seeks as far as possible to act in synergy with other organizations pursuing similar or complementary goals. In this respect, our motto is: “Acting faster, stronger, more fairly.”

Grand-parents pour le Climat maintains a website, publishes a monthly newsletter and regularly writes (open) letters to editors of various media. It organizes field activities with young people in schools, along with training sessions, conferences and events for other grandparents or for the wider public. To support actions on climate justice issues it participates in demonstrations and protests. GPC writes letters to ministers and politicians and monitors the votes of political representatives in both the Belgian and European parliaments. In actions directed at the Belgian government or the European Union, GPC joins forces with its Belgian Dutch-speaking sister organization “Grootouders voor het Klimaat.”

Bedsteforældrenes Klimaaktion (BKA) – Grandparents Climate Action Denmark was formed some 7 years ago as a result of our great concern for the future of our children and  grandchildren, as the climate crisis seems to escalate without proper actions from our politicians and fellow citizens.  BKA is currently organized in 10 local groups spread over Denmark and has around 200 active members, with a group of around 5,000 supporters on Social Media.

We promote the much needed actions on all levels as stated by climate scientists globally, and we do so by interacting with our politicians on all levels, press and in the streets within Danish law. We have a widespread cooperation with other climate and environmental organizations and take part in demonstrations, actions in the streets and meetings.   We have a certain aim to support the young generation in their effort to get our political leaders to act rather than just talk.  BKA is active on a local and national level, and it’s therefore natural for us to seek a close cooperation with like-minded grandparents throughout Europe.

The aim of The Finnish Climate Grandparents is to act against the climate change and the biodiversity loss and to work for an ethical, ecological and egalitarian society.

We want to support children and young people in their activities related to these goals and promote intergenerational equality according to the Paris Climate Agreement.

We demonstrate on the stairs of our parliament every Friday, organize meetings to share information, try to influence the legislation and to co-operate with other organizations.

“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

The Activist Grannies are a four-year-old network of (mainly) Finnish Grannies (and Grandpas) who want to share their life experience and wisdom to help save our planet as a good place to live for our grandchildren. We have an active core group based in Helsinki and some 10,000 followers in social media all over the country.

The Grannies believe that the best way to lead a rewarding life is not through excessive consumption, but by appreciating more important things like nature, culture and friendship. We spread these ideas at different events and through various channels as well as by setting an example in our own lives. The Grannies aim to alleviate climate anxiety by offering a glimmer of hope.

Founded in 2015 by Estelle Le Touzé and Philippe Girardin on the occasion of COP 21 in Paris, Grandparents for Climate France acts on several levels.  It targets the senior generation in order to provide information on the current scientific  knowledge relating to the challenges of climate change – the state of play, political  and economic debates, as well as ecological adaptation solutions. Its web site https://grandsparentsclimatfrance.fr/ and newsletter provide references to relevant publications and internet sources, with a view to making the information accessible to a non-specialist audience.

More practically it recommends simple gestures for recycling, repairing and saving, while advocating the choice for ecology friendly investment programmes.  It  encourages community involvement, social networks and any form of participatory democracy.

Its actions vary according to the orientations of the local groups, according to GPC’s associative charter, with a view to inter-generational cooperation. They include advocacy work, lobbying public authorities, interventions in schools, protests against public projects implying the use of fossil energies, appeals to the press and to political representatives or economic executives.  Most actions are carried out in partnership with other local or national organizations.

Act! For the love to life.

The Omas for Future were founded in Leipzig in 2019 for the 50+ generation. Our climate movement currently includes some 80 regional groups throughout Germany, as well as activists in Austria and the Netherlands. You can meet us at action days, city and community festivals, in organizations, clubs and schools, incidentally also with the support of grandpas.

We Omas for Future provide low-level information about the connection between climate and health and show how each individual can contribute to the “climate change from below”. We do not renounce, but we promote small changes in our everyday behaviour that can make a big difference – for a greener, healthier and liveable future for our children and grandchildren.

The Grootouders voor het Klimaat (Grandparents for Climate) in the Netherlands started in the autumn of 2016. It is a movement of grandparents, but also other senior citizens take part in it. The structure is that of a foundation, which in the Netherlands is the most common structure for non-profit organizations.

Important activities are gatherings in public places (Pleinbijeenkomsten), such as the one that takes place every two weeks in front of the national parliament where Grandparents meet up with Members of Parliament. Furthermore there are Read alouds, lectures / webinars, local actions and of course the signatures of the Manifesto.

The organization wants the civil society movement for a better climate to grow. This includes taking our responsibility for a more sustainable attitude in our own environment. But we also aim at influencing politicians and both public and private policy makers to promote sustainable living, producing and investing. We therefore are raising awareness about climate change through communication, education and information. Cooperation with other organizations is key to achieve our goals. We have a website, a regular newsletter and we are active on social media.

The foundation has a board of directors, of which Mrs. Corina van Arnhem is the president. The activities are prepared and implemented through a number of working groups, all run by volunteers. Since the organization is a foundation, it has no formal membership. Our reach is measured through the subscriptions for the newsletter (some 4,500) and the e-mail address list (some 8,500). We are currently thinking of creating a more formal membership structure.

The Norwegian Grandparents’ Climate Campaign (GCC) was formed in 2006 by a group of concerned elders, many of whom formerly held influential positions in Norwegian society. Today, GCC is an independent grass-roots organization with well over 6000 members, with regional groups across Norway and run by a members’ steering-committee. GCC has proved a significant voice in the public debate on the state of Norway’s climate policy at home and abroad.

We are often on the streets with our banners and slogans, we write in the media, we organize debates, we engage with Parliament and the political process, we follow international climate meetings and we use song and music actively.

GCC has adopted Article 112 of the Norwegian Constitution as our guiding principle for climate action and climate justice. It guarantees: “Every person has the right to an environment that is conducive to health and to a natural environment whose productivity and diversity are maintained. Natural resources shall be managed on the basis of comprehensive long-term considerations which will safeguard this right for future generations as well.”

Inspired by the example of the Norwegian grand-parents, our Swiss counterpart was founded on September 16, 2014. Today we have roughly 1,400 active members organised in regional groups in both the French and German speaking parts of the country. Our national committee is presided by two co-chairpersons.

We engage in activities and projects informing the population about the issues of climate change and encouraging good practices. Present themes: training in the consumption of sustainable food, a key to the transition; promoting an ethical digital world; informing the public on the issue of Earth overshoot day. The latter campaign was reported on the national radio.

We have a scientific commission which includes specialists from the academic world. Among other activities, the commission organises in cooperation with the academic community an annual conference on a climate related subject.

Our political workgroup is active in supporting national campaigns for the signature of pro-environment initiatives. Popular initiatives are a Swiss speciality that gives the possibility for any group of citizens who collect 100,000 signatures to submit to the people a text to become law, if approved. In periods of legislative elections, as will be the case next year, the workgroup questions candidates on their intentions as regards environmental issues, so as to inform voters.

In 2016 a group of 40 elderly women sharing concerns that the Swiss government was not taking adequate actions to meet Climate Change and thus not protecting vulnerable people from adverse effects on life and health founded our association counting in 2024 about 3000 members.

We are a „women only and beyond 65 years old” group as scientific results show that elderly women suffer particularly from increasingly hot Summers leading to a higher mortality rate and negative impact on their daily lives.

Since our foundation we filed various legal claims against the Swiss government up to the Supreme Court. Every time our argumentations were rejected and our claim dismissed at an early stage.

In 2020 we brought our case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Court not only accepted our case as one of few but assigned it to the Grand Chamber that typically deals with important topics in relation to Human Rights. In March 2023 Hearings took place followed on 9 April 2024 by the Ruling stating that the Swiss government had failed to protect its citizens from the adverse effect of Climate Change and requiring to reassess, improve and implement its Climate Change goals. Fundamentally, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that protection against Climate Change is a Human Right.

This Ruling applies to all 46 member states forming the Council of Europe and will further also
have an indirect impact on pending and future actions filed worldwide.