Xiye Bastida was just 15 years old when she spoke at her first international United Nations gathering in 2018.
That same year, the Otomi-Mexican climate activist won the U.N. Spirit Award for her youth leadership and tenacity. She then partnered with Greta Thunberg in 2019 to lead climate strikes that made a lasting ripple effect around the globe.
Six years later, at the age 23, her organization Re-Earth Initiative is forging the next generation of activism and advocacy in a world where climate disasters and creative adaptation are part of the new normal. The operation actively supports front-line youth activists in 27 countries, primarily across Latin America and the Global South.
Bastida describes her passion for climate justice and Indigenous rights as inseparable from her ancestral roots and cross-cultural identity. She moved from Mexico to New York City with her family during high school and graduated in 2024 from the University of Pennsylvania State with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and policy.
She says that unwavering hope and collective action have become an anchor in her journey. And she recommends the same for those looking to make a difference in our warming planet.
“The only individual thing we should all do is find community in climate solutions,” Bastida said.
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Yale Climate Connections: Do you have a core moment that woke you up to climate change?
Xiye Bastida: My hometown in the Toluca Valley of Mexico flooded when I was 13. That was a turning point. Before, I wanted to be a veterinarian or a scientist. When the flood happened, I realized there was nothing else I could do but do my best to restore my relationship with the Earth.
Also, my parents had been activists themselves since they were in their early 20s. They met at the landmark U.N. Rio Earth Summit in 1992. I am also who I am because of who my parents are.
YCC: We’re hearing many people say how the lived experience of these floods and disasters is harder to ignore compared to climate facts and data.
Bastida: During the L.A. wildfires a quote went viral that said, “Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to where you live until you’re the one filming it.”
That hit me so hard because when the flood happened in my hometown, the first thing I did was take a picture of it. I was in that position, and now a lot of the world is experiencing this.
To me, these climate-magnified disasters are the second wave of the climate crisis.
The first wave is the disconnection: “I can pollute here, I can take this land, I can degrade this land,” etc. All of that causes or exacerbates climate impacts.
So I think seeing that second wave – which can be a flood, more intense rains, a drought – it just changed my entire concept of who I was in this world.
YCC: And it sounds like you were already well ahead of most people in climate awareness.
Bastida: When I was in kindergarten, I was named “water protector” by my teacher. I was just in charge of closing the faucets after all the kids. But for me, it was like the best thing that ever happened to me.
All of that was recognizing my inclinations and what I was taught at home. My parents were definitely a generation ahead in climate consciousness in a way. But maybe we don’t call it “ahead,” just call it “connected to the past.”
Because what we’re truly missing is that connection to ancestral knowledge and wisdom.
YCC: How did that come out in the ecosystem where you grew up?
Bastida: I had the fortune of growing up in an ecosystem geographically about an hour from Mexico City: San Pedro Tultepec in the Toluca Valley. There’s a system of wetlands there.
My ancestors have had a close relationship with these wetlands around Lake Chimaliapan. My grandma collected mushrooms, frogs, and other food from the land. My grandfather his whole life weaved tule from the lagoon, a type of long grass. He would make bags, chairs, hats, and anything out of it.
In our Otomi worldview, we say that weaving tule is like weaving the relationship between the land and ourselves. We have many biocultural practices. And that is the beauty of knowing the place that you come from.
From a very young age, I knew I was exactly meant to be there. It also gives you a big sense of responsibility. I grew up with a practice of reciprocity that was cemented in not only daily life but with deities and beings like the lagoon and a volcano in the valley.
YCC: What changes have you seen in the place you’re from?
Bastida: Because we’re so close to Mexico City, the area is one of the biggest industrial sites in Central Mexico. Toluca has many industrial plants, factories, and illegal wells that companies drill into the aquifer to get water.
So even in my lifetime over the last 20 years, things have shifted from a close relationship to our ecosystem, land, and rivers to one that is very contaminated and separated.
Seeing this growing up made me kind of upset and confused. I was being told one thing at home – “We are here to take care of the Earth” – compared to seeing the reality of lots of industry and companies coming in and not caring.
YCC: How have you channeled those feelings into something meaningful and hopeful?
Bastida: I went to high school in New York, and that’s the place where my activism really blossomed and flourished. There was an environmental club, and I joined it, then became one of its leaders.
But instead of staying in the club in school and watching documentaries or doing the vegan challenges, I said “We have to go to city hall. We have to go to Albany. We have to take buses and buses of kids to make sure representatives are listening.”
For me it was more like I saw the power of New York and the media potential. And we were going to use the power of New York.
I became the youth member of the administration committee of the People’s Climate Movement at age 16. It made me feel so empowered. And from that position, I created a youth activism training program that trained over 70 youth.
YCC: And this was right before Greta Thunberg called for the Fridays for Future school strikes and marches?
Bastida: When Greta called for the climate strikes in 2019, we were already mobilizing and organizing from our school. This call just made us join this global space and narrative.
We started organizing in New York and our first march had 5,000 youth. And our fourth one had 300,000 people. It was exponential, and I’ll never forget that. That’s what gives us hope.
A lot of my hope I draw not only from where I come from, my land, and my values – the notion that I know we have responsibilities to the Earth and my ancestors – it also comes from the fact that we’ve done it before.
We’ve mobilized hundreds of thousands of people and millions around the world. I believe in those people, and I believe in ripple effects. And I know we’re beacons of action in different corners of the world.
YCC: How has the strategy changed since the climate strike in 2019?
Bastida: We need to have different tactics because marching is not drawing the same attention.
Part of the reason we were on the streets is because it got attention from all the media outlets around the world. Now there are protests and nobody hears about them. If we do the same now, it’s not going to have the same social awakening that it had.
Now we’re doing it all from a different perspective: We do the work through nonprofits, through education, through attending the U.N. conferences.
Now we aren’t just showing up to protest but to actually learn how negotiations work. And we have successfully changed negotiation and policy language at the U.N. level.
YCC: Showing up consistently in important spaces seems to be a theme for how you’ve sparked change.
Bastida: With the U.N. conference, we go because if we are not there, they are not going to include youth in the texts. If we aren’t there, they are not going to include Indigenous peoples in the text. They are not going to include any frameworks of justice in the texts.
If the people who are impacted are not there, they are going to brush it off. Showing up makes a difference. We keep showing up because it makes a difference of where the funding goes and what the priorities end up being.
YCC: I know burnout is a big threat to this kind of work. What do you recommend to activists or anyone committed to climate action?
Bastida: My nonprofit is primarily dedicated to this, even the fact that our color is bright pink and we’re all about hope and optimism and action. Our main programming is resourcing youth who are doing it with workshops and training.
Personally, I have fallen into burnout to the point of being hospitalized with heart palpitations due to stress. That’s when I was in high school organizing the climate strikes.
I remember telling myself: “This is the last time I want to put my body in this position.” So I started being really mindful about sleeping enough, drinking enough water, eating well, and laughing and enjoying time with friends and family.
There’s a really good book called, “Rest is Resistance,” by Tricia Hersey. Rest is part of activism. Take a nap, take a break, say no to a 2 a.m. call – which can happen a lot in our global network of people. Ceremony, such as sweat lodge, is also really important for me.
Setting boundaries is good so we can enjoy the long haul in our pursuit of climate solutions.
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