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How UN Secretary General Guterres can help save life on Earth

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Tips for writing: 

  • Take a second to think about who you are writing to and why - try to put yourself in their shoes.

  • Set your state - what do you want to say, why does this matter to you?

  • Write for connection - use the points below to find points of connection, and write from that place, reaching out to them as a fellow human being.

  • Don’t be shrill and demand things - offer insights, arguments, and inspiration.

  • Make your point - scientists say we have to protect half of the Earth to save ourselves.

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How UN Secretary General Guterres can help save life on Earth
As the world’s top diplomat, UN chief Antonio Guterres can do more than almost anyone else to save life on Earth. In September, he’s hosting a major climate meeting of world leaders where he could ask them to champion protecting half the planet.

He says leaders should listen to their people, so let’s write to him and inspire him to support this plan before his important summit. Avaaz will collect all the amazing letters, print them in a beautiful book, and deliver them to him and his team.

Before you write - getting to know Antonio Guterres:

  1. He is the Secretary General of the United Nations, this position gives him the power to access and influence world leaders from every corner of the planet.
  2. He studied physics and engineering at the Universidade de Lisboa, earning a degree in 1971. And after graduating, he worked as a physics teacher, teaching systems theory and telecommunications.
  3. But politics was his true calling. Guterres was active in the protest movement that helped to topple the Portuguese dictatorship in 1974. He then joined the Socialist Party in 1974, and two years later he was elected to the Portuguese parliament, eventually becoming the Prime Minister in 1995.
  4. Guterres is a practicing Catholic, many say his religion has been a guiding force in his world view. It is worth reminding him that the Catholic Church preaches we must protect our common home (Earth!) and be stewards of nature.
  5. One of his former colleagues said "He has this ability to stand his ground on important issues but still make you feel he's heard and understood your point of view."
  6. His previous job was as Head of the UN Refugee agency. He knows first hand how climate change and environmental disasters can force people to flee their homes.
  7. He is a deal maker -- at the last round of UN climate talks, some countries wanted to ignore stark new science that increases the urgency of the climate crisis. Mr. Guterres broke the deadlock by making last-minute personal phone calls to world leaders urging them to act.
  8. In September he’s hosting a climate summit in New York and one of the key themes is nature. If he champions a plan to protect half the Earth at this summit, we can make sure we protect our forests and oceans which absorb carbon pollution and are an essential solution to climate change.
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