Arizona Students Pass Nation's Most Comprehensive School Climate Resolution

Allison Kuester is a senior at Basis Oro Valley middle and high school. She participated in the press team for the resolution. 

On October 29, 2024, in a room full of teenagers waiting with bated breath, the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) passed the most comprehensive school climate action resolution in the United States. The room erupted into excited cheers as students from across Arizona reveled in the result of a year and a half's worth of work. Since May 2023, the Tucson Unified School District Climate Action Resolution underwent numerous discussions, votes, revisions, and was meticulously crafted by young climate activists in the Arizona Youth Climate Coalition (AZYCC), Arizona’s largest youth climate advocacy organization. It was entirely lobbied, written, and researched by students from ages 13-20. Their work on this project highlights the need for youth perspectives in climate-related policies. 

Arizona Youth Climate Coalition members after the passage of their resolution, the Tucson Unified School District’s Climate Action Resolution. Photo by Allison Kuester

"This resolution was written by students, for students. We are laying the foundation for a future that is sustainable, equitable, and just," said Tanish Doshi, Outreach Director of AZYCC. "Arizona is on the front lines of the climate crisis, and our generation refuses to sit back and watch."

This resolution places TUSD at the forefront of climate action, sustainability, and climate education as a school district that’s home to more than 40,000 students. The resolution commits to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 through electrifying TUSD’s entire bus fleet by 2040, fully electrifying the Tucson Unified School District’s buildings by 2035. 

Furthermore, the resolution creates goals for sustainability, including the addition of plant-based meals, composting programs, water conservation, and more. Keeping the students and staff in mind, the resolution lays out heat resiliency plans that include having designated cooling rooms by 2027 and building a complete climate curriculum across grade levels by 2027. The resolution is a bold and all-encompassing move, but a needed one as we head further into today’s climate crisis. 

While the resolution focuses on the young people of Arizona, people of all ages showed up for these students as they faced the school board’s vote. Within the room, you could see that this resolution was more than a difference in where school lunches come from for TUSD students; it was a community effort to save the seasonal streams and nocturnal wildlife of Tucson. A community letter of support for the climate action resolution gained more than 160 signatures, including those of the Mayor of Tucson, Arizona State senators, Tucson City Council members, and more. 

Tanish Doshi, Outreach Director of AZYCC, celebrating with a community member after the resolution passed.

Photo by Allison Kuester. 

AZYCC’s journey didn’t start with the passage of TUSD’s Climate Action Resolution. Their victory was built on years of work, from pushing Tucson’s Mayor to declare a climate emergency in 2020 to their involvement with the Tucson Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. 

These students from across Arizona’s desert are an inspirational archetype for grassroots organizing. Their work covers everything from mutual aid and education to policy lobbying, and they are nowhere near finished. Currently, AZYCC is working on creating a toolkit for other school districts to write their own climate action resolution, making this victory a possibility for schools across America. 

At a time when climate research and policies are being attacked, this resolution represents a beacon of hope for the future. The work of the AZYCC sends the resounding message that the youth of Arizona and the United States are not planning to sit idly, but rather are working to see their futures guaranteed by influencing politics before they even have a seat at the table. 

"This victory isn't just for our school district—it's a beacon of hope for young people everywhere fighting for their future," said Ojas Sanghi, the Tucson Co-Lead of the Arizona Youth Climate Coalition. "We've shown that students have the power to lead the charge on climate action and create meaningful, systemic change."