Noa Greene-Houvras Shows Up for Climate Justice

Most Fridays, you can find Greene-Houvras, 18, outside of New York City Hall holding a sign that reads, “Climate Justice Now!”

By Delaney McPherson
Next Generation
Dec 30, 2023

Noa Greene-Houvras (far right) helped lead the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City in September 2023.

ON MOST FRIDAYS, you can find 18-year-old Noa Greene-Houvras (below) outside of New York City Hall, holding a small cardboard sign that reads, “Climate Justice Now!” Some days, there is a large crowd with her; other times, it has been her and one other person. For the past year, she’s been showing up for Fridays For Future (FFF), an international group that organizes weekly strikes outside of government buildings.

Greene-Houvras’ interest in activism came from a sense of helplessness about climate change and a desire to do something bigger than “turning off the lights,” she says. In 2022, she created an Instagram account called @theteenagelorax to document her journey and eventually found FFF. After weeks of being too nervous to join, she took the plunge, walked out of school and went down to city hall.

From there, Greene-Houvras found her cure for climate helplessness: community. She began learning from other organizers, talking to people on the street and ended up going viral after a comedian posted a video of her speaking. In September, she helped lead the March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City, attended by 75,000 people.

Even as the crowds she organizes grow, Greene-Houvras emphasizes the grounding power of connection. “All the skills you’d think I got from organizing a huge climate march, I got from sitting with one person on the street and from other [FFF] members,” she says. “It’s wild to present myself as an individual when I’m just one part of an amazing community.”