SustainUS: U.S. Youth for Sustainable Development

Contribute to the SustainUS Fall Fundraiser today!

In the past year, SustainUS members, leaders, and delegates have been busy! From engaging youth in international advocacy on climate change to building policy and media skills for this generation of young leaders, we are continuing to work hard to advance sustainable development.

But we can’t do it alone.

Thanks to our volunteers and supporters we’ve always been able to create change on a shoestring budget, but we now find ourselves in need of just a bit more support. Organizing trainings, engaging youth in policy-making on climate change, biodiversity, sustainable development, and women’s empowerment, and launching our brand new Lead Now Fellowship all requires us to draw on our modest resources.

Our September fundraising goal is a modest $3,000 and every gift counts. Especially with the next round of climate negotiations in Doha, Qatar rapidly approaching, we need to be able to provide delegates with scholarships, get the Lead Now Fellowship up and running, and so much more.

As you may know, SustainUS is completely led by volunteers. Please help us do even more with a generous donation today!

Thanks for your unwavering support!

Meet the SustainUS COP18 Delegation!

The SustainUS Agents of Change program has selected its SustainUS youth delegation to the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention and 8th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP18 and CMP8), which will be held in Doha, Qatar, from November 26 to December 7, 2012. Delegates will work with each other and with international youth in advance of the conference to educate themselves and their communities, develop policy priorities, acquire skills in effective lobbying, and engage the broader youth population in action related to international climate policy.

Please email the Agents of Change coordinator, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , if you have any questions about this year's or future UNFCCC delegations.

Meet the delegates after the jump!

Rio+20 updates

Follow the work of the SustainUS Rio+20 delegates as we head to Rio de Janeiro for the Rio+20 Earth Summit June 2012. This event will draw thousands to Brazil to examine how we can better address the coupled ecological and social crises that confront the world. SustainUS has followed these negotiations closely in our effort to advance sustainable development and enable youth engagement in these forums.

SustainUS Announces 2012 Citizen Science Paper Competition Winners

After a highly competitive review process, SustainUS is proud to announce the winners of our 2012 Citizen Science paper competition for research related to biological diversity. The winning papers will appear in Consilience: the Journal of Sustainable Development, a global journal for sustainable development produced by Columbia University. In addition, the authors of the winning papers will be invited to present their research at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Hyderabad, India in October 2012.

A Future Uncompromised: SustainUS Rio+20 Policy

Last week, at the third round of "informal-informal" Negotiations for Rio+20, SustainUS released the second edition of its A Future Uncompromised policy briefs on sustainable development. The latest edition covers six key issues for Rio+20: strengthening UNEP, measuring and assessing prosperity, peace and conflict, water resources, sexual and reproductive rights, and fossil fuel subsidies. In addition to highlighting prior commitments by Member States and reflecting on the current state of negotiations, the briefs outline a selection of SustainUS's policy recommendations for Rio+20.