Breaking Information Barriers: Youth, Climate Resilience, and the Power of Language

In this episode of Earth Central, we speak with Hikaru Wakil Hayakawa, co-founder and executive director of Climate Cardinals—one of the world’s largest youth-led climate organizations. Hikaru shares how a small group of high school students with a mission to translate climate information evolved into a global movement spanning 134 countries and over 16,000 volunteers.

We explore how Climate Cardinals tackles the overlooked but critical issue of language accessibility in the climate movement, empowering youth and communities by making climate science, risk data, and emergency information available in local languages. Hikaru also discusses the intersection of climate justice, open data, AI, and indigenous knowledge—and why breaking information silos is essential for a truly inclusive and effective response to climate change.

Whether you’re in the nonprofit world, building sustainability tech, or working with corporate ESG data, this is a conversation full of insight on what it really means to make climate action accessible, inclusive, and global.