June 21 is a holiday for humanists worldwide: on the longest day of the year, we celebrate our humanist values together and reflect on the importance of humanist ideas and convictions. Anna Ranneberg, HVD Federal Board Member for Youth and Chairwoman of the Young Humanists in Brandenburg, calls for World Humanist Day to be a day for climate and environmental protection:
Bild: Konstantin Börner“Environmental and climate protection are essential prerequisites for a sustainable world in which human rights are safeguarded – and therefore a deeply humanistic concern! We must now enter into a joint discourse, both in politics and business as well as in civil society. Above all, the voices of young people should be heard and taken seriously. The children and young people of today are the doers and decision-makers of tomorrow. And they have a right to a sustainable world!
It is important to implement measures together here and now that are in the interests of environmental and climate protection. For individuals, the fight against climate change often seems like an overwhelming challenge, but the impact starts on a small scale – and collectively we have great power to change and create an environment worth living in tomorrow! When many people get involved, a lot can be achieved, whether it’s picking up litter, avoiding plastic packaging, eating more sustainably or not using cars or planes.
We can use today’s World Humanist Day to focus on climate protection and create greater awareness of climate change and the necessary measures to combat it. And tomorrow we continue! We can do a good deed every day and inspire our families, friends and colleagues to get involved. Let’s reshape our world together!”
The Humanist Association of Germany (HVD) attaches great importance to firmly anchoring climate protection as a humanist value in its association culture. Our regional association in North Rhine-Westphalia has already developed a mission statement for climate protection and is currently working on a nationwide mission statement. In addition, our humanist magazine diesseits is now printed sustainably and regionally, on 100 percent recycled paper, with mineral oil-free printing ink. And last but not least, the HVD Federal Association is a member of the Citizens’ Climate Council, in which citizens are currently developing recommendations for climate protection measures in Germany, which will be presented at the end of June.
