Dance & disruption: Inspiring climate action

In the run-up to Giving Tuesday, we've been sharing the stories of three young activists from around the world.

Mathilde Caillard is a leader in the movement for social justice and ecological action, known for her unique approach as a "techno activist"; along with other young activists, Mathilde employs a combination of dance and techno music to carry political demands and protest messages, amplifying digital reach and gaining media coverage for her cause.

Mathilde has been a climate activist with Action Justice Climat Paris, a citizens' movement working for ecology and social justice, since 2019. Committed to opposing French pension reform last year, Mathilde's profile grew when videos of her dancing at those protests went viral. Then, during the French parliamentary elections this summer, Mathilde took a strong stand against the far-right, rallying influencers to organise and and join the fight for social change.

"It's absolutely impossible," Mathilde told us, speaking on the elections, "to normalise what a far-right government could mean... We'll be even less capable of organising because our fundamental rights will be under attack, our democracy will be under attack. It means a world in which we lose our capacity to fight."

If you want to know more about Mathilde's work, you can follow her on Instagram or read about the Action Justice Climat Paris fundraising campaign here.

Mathilde was one of three remarkable young changemakers who gave the closing keynote at IFC 2024. She and her friend and fellow activist Marie Cohuet, who joined her on stage as translator, almost didn't make it to the event; following an act of civil disobedience during a protest for Palestine, they were held in custody for 36 hours! If you need a dose of inspiration, you can watch the keynote back here.