Wollongong’s Climate Girl Parrys Raines is planning a big 2017 taking her sustainability message further around the world.
Ms Raines attributes her passion and commitment to the environment to growing up between the mountains and the sea and being active in the outdoors. As a teenager she used to go surfing in the morning and mountain biking in the afternoon. “I have been really lucky to live here in Wollongong all of my life,” she said.
Climate Girl’s message to business and youth in all parts of the globe is all about saving the environment for generations to come. She started in her early teens.
“The first UN conference I spoke at (Norway) was when I was 13. I have been to three more since then. I was 14 when I launched www.climategirl.com.au because when I was learning about the environment a lot of information was very scientific and hard to understand and not really targeted at a younger audience. But when you think about it climate change is..a huge issue. It impacts the ocean, it is a pollution issue, a health issue, an eco-system issue, an education issue and a social justice issue”.
Mr Raines said it was important to break it down into smaller pieces to make everything easier to understand. That is what the Climate Girl does ”because once people understand an issue they will start to care. And once they start to care they will start to take action”.
Ms Raines said it all came down to education and she was passionate about finding easy to ways to do that. She travels regularly to both learn as much as she can and share as much as possible with as many people as she can. Recently she ticked off a big bucket list item when she got to travel to Antarctica.
“I went as an environmentalist firstly to learn about such a pristine and vulnerable eco-system. But also I went there with The Unstoppables (100 of Australia’s leading entrepreneurs and business people) for a think tank around social, economic and environment issues facing Australia and the world,” she said.
Along with sharing her message to help business leaders find ways to be more sustainable and help Australia develop a low carbon economy..she learned from many bright minds about how to take Climate Girl to the next level and reach more people. 2017 will be about doing just that. “I want to build Climate Girl into a world class online community. I have some exciting things I want to share in the future that I have been building and planning. And I will continue to speak internationally at conferences and events..and meeting so many like-minded people from all around the world.”
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
