Introduction

The 22 stories that are part of this

collection Dear World Leaders

Many people are blind to the

climate crisis Climate Change

Stories for COP28 Decision Makers

convey urgent messages in a wide

variety of forms The collection

has been created through a

collaboration of professional

writers artists rebellious

scientists Artif icial Intelligence

an inf luencer and an indigenous

writer for the occasion of COP28

The stories encompass f ictional

encounters between humans

and otherthanhumans factual

nonf iction stories direct letters

addressed to the leaders of the

world travel reports infographics

and cartoons

Several stories although

touching on the worst effects of

the polycrisis attribute wisdom

and hope to humans decisions

for a better future Other if not

most stories have a kind of

dystopic ending touching upon

the deteriorated and strange

environments and climates in the

notsodistant future Interestingly

several stories attribute talking

and thinking roles to nonhuman

beings such as plants and animals

Stories can have many different

subjects ranging from smallscale

street observations via landscapes

descriptions to global scenarios

The stories that are part of this

collection Dear World Leaders

Many people are blind to the

climate crisis Climate Change

Stories For COP28 Decision

Makers were written during the

tenure of the VU Amsterdams f irst

Distinguished Fellowship of the

Anthropocene in the fall of 2023

in the context of two storytelling

workshops On the Road to

COP28 in order to address the

leaders of the world who come

together in Dubai United Arab

Emirates during COP28 We

thank our primary supporters VU

Amsterdam Sustainability Institute

and IUCNCEC