Michael Davidson, US-China Climate Policy Coordinator, Washington, DC

We can’t make the future with what we did in the past. I mean that is ridiculous, isn’t it? The past actions are what caused the problems in the first place. We need innovation and imagination.

So says 17-year old Brittany Trilford from New Zealand, winner of the Date With History video contest. She will join as many as 50,000 people, including over 110 heads of state, in Rio de Janeiro in less than a month to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first historic Earth Summit. Her job? To remind our leaders why we hold these international gatherings: to get things done.

The summit comes at a time when our planet is facing unprecedented peril. We have exceeded three of our nine planetary boundaries; we are over-exploiting three-quarters of our fish stocks, like many other natural resources; and poverty continues to exact a grievous toll on the health and safety of billions of people. Clearly, the status quo is not working.

And the next generation – the Millenials, twenty-somethings... – is tired of sitting on the sidelines. The Date With History contest invited some of the most promising young ...

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