<h3>Climate Cardinals founder Sophia Kianni urges everyone to get 
involved in climate activism. Even small gestures, Sophia says, can go a long way.</h3>
Sophia Kianni is an Iranian-American climate activist, and the founder and executive director of international nonprofit Climate Cardinals. Sophia has been heavily involved in grassroots organising with groups including Fridays for 
Future, Extinction Rebellion and Zero Hour.
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In 2019, Sophia helped mobilise more than six million people to take to the streets as part of the Fridays for Future protests, leading to international media coverage and significant progress in raising awareness about climate change.
“This was particularly significant, because it was the first time that 
we had been able to mobilise people to the same degree as the 
[US] civil rights movement or the women’s suffrage era. And it’s 
really rooted in the philosophy that nonviolent civil disobedience 
is what is needed to get world leaders to feel pressure,” explained 
Sophia.
<h4>Everyone has a role to play in climate activism</h4>
One of Sophia’s key motives as a climate activist is moving people from apathy to action.

While many understand that climate change is an emergency, they may not feel empowered to take action – or know how they can fight against it.
Sophia believes every person has a role to play as a climate activist, regardless of their work or lifestyle. The Climate Cardinals founder encourages people to make a difference in their daily lives and jobs, such as a fashion student finding ways to create more sustainable textiles or an engineering student using algorithms to develop more efficient solar panels.
“People too often think that being a climate activist means stopping 
flying, or eating only 100 percent vegan. But, really, the way that 
I look at it is that we need many more imperfect activists; people 
who realise that, in their day-to-day jobs, there’s something that 
they can do,” said Sophia.
<h4>Climate change awareness is still a major problem</h4>
For the young activist, climate change is deeply personal. At the age of 12, Sophia visited family in Iran and was struck by the severe pollution and high temperatures caused by climate change.
“I learned that temperatures in the Middle East were rising more 
than twice the global average. Specifically, I was struck by how 
awful the air pollution in Iran was. Thousands of people were being 
hospitalised over just a few days,” noted Sophia.
“Yet, when I approached my relatives with these concerns, I was 
struck by the fact that they told me that they had never heard 
about climate change or global warming. All of these terms were 
completely foreign to them,” Sophia added.
This experience inspired Sophia to become a climate activist and 
start Climate Cardinals, an organisation that works to empower 
young people to take action on climate change and to advocate for 
policy changes.
Sophia encourages everyone to find their own way to be a climate 
activist and make a difference in the fight against the climate crisis. 
Ultimately, the young founder’s message is one of hope, one that 
strengthens the belief that young people have the power to create 
change.
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<a href="https://flic.kr/p/2nXb98L" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Main image</a> of Sophia Kianni speaking on stage at Web Summit 2022: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/websummit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ben McShane</a>/<a href="websummit.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web Summit</a> (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY 2.0</a>)

An image of Sophia Kianni, founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals. Sophia is standing on a stage and gesturing emphatically. Jess is holding what appears to be either a presentation clicker or a mobile phone, and appears to be talking. Jess is wearing a headset mic, and several lights emitting a warm glow are visible on the wall behind Sophia.

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