This Saturday 27 April, 18 year old Nicholas Pasieczka will run 100 kilometres non-stop in Bird Hill Park (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) to show people have the power to address climate change.
Earlier this year Nicholas (Nich) attended The Conference on Sustainability in Engineering in British Columbia, where he discovered a lack of clear answers to what his generation can do to change the future.
“Following the conference I felt pretty depressed about the pathway humanity is on in relation to the environment. Many people my age are cynical about the influence they can have, or the impact of their actions to make a real difference,” says Nich.
As part of his run Nich decided to raise awareness of good work being done in the space of renewable energy. He searched for an organization actively changing the future and found Pollinate Group.
“Pollinate Group are an example of young people taking action and having a real impact. They were founded by six young Australians and they’ve saved 65,000 tons of CO2 by helping people in poverty transition from toxic kerosene to solar lighting, which has many more benefits.
While India and Nepal (where Pollinate Group works) and Canada are culturally different, we can all learn a lot from each other and adopt each other’s models of success. If people living in extreme poverty are changing their habits and stopping using kerosene for fuel, Nich believes Canadians can speed up the transition to cleaner alternatives too.
As part of his run Nich is raising funds to help Pollinate Group scale their work, especially helping women sell solar lamps and solar fans to their peers in neglected communities. His run is connected to an existing fundraising campaign where every donation is matched up to $25,000.
Next month Nich will represent Canada at the Clean Energy Ministerial / Mission Innovation Ministerial in Vancouver, where world leaders from more than 25 countries will attend to tackle energy issues.
“I look forward to representing our country and showing how the people of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and the world are supportive of the energy changes we need to see now so our economies, environment and communities can prosper for generations to come.” Nich says.
CEO of Pollinate Group, Alexie Seller, shared, “People like Nich are changemakers. His passion and dedication are inspiring and we’re proud of his actions to help accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources, not just in India and Nepal, but around the world. We wish him all the best on his run!”