The Get Reel on Climate team in Copenhagen

The world listens as youths share their thoughts on climate change!

Young people from around the globe met at the Children’s Climate Forum (CCF) in Copenhagen to discuss climate change. The youths prepared a statement for the world leaders attending the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) – giving young people a voice on the world stage.

Four students from Quebec City (Alexandre Gariépy, Maryse Galibois, Jean-Frédéric Montreuil-Moreau, Sabrina Chaoui) represented Canada at the Forum. Here's what they had to say:

"What a great experience! I learned so much from the many different languages and cultures that were present at the Forum. I learned so much on climate change and how the young people of the world want to be heard by the leaders. In general, that trip was a super experience and I really appreciate the chance I had."
-  Jean-Frédéric Montreuil-Moreau

"This forum means that the young people are sensitive to the realities of climate change. There are different situations thus we inevitably have to adopt different solutions. Every individual effort will have a collective impact and it is together that we can make things change."
- Maryse Galibois

Read their blog below!

BLOG – Spring Update - Monday April 5, 2010

The Climate Week was just awesome! We have invited an expert to our school to speak to young people about climate change and how they can make a difference. This conference from Think Climate Project connected to the Climate Project Canada. Mr. Gérard Croteau, the speaker, has inspired a lot of youth, including us, the Climate Ambassadors. He allowed us to learn many new things and to open our eyes to new realities. During this week, we have also promoted the campaign "Défi-Climat", and we have actively encouraged people to pledge to reduce their GHG emissions through one simple gesture over the year. Our school’s goal is to reduce 45 000 kg of GHG emissions. Many students and teachers are already involved in this fantastic campaign! Hopefully, we will reach our goal!

BLOG – Friday December 4, 2009 

Our work at the Children’s Climate Forum has led up to one defining moment: the presentation of our declaration to the Danish Minister of the Environment and President of COP15, Connie Hedegaard. Ms. Hedegaard will present our Declaration to the world leaders attending the COP15 next week.  The time for action is now!

Alexandre was one of the climate ambassadors who presented the declaration.  You can see him in the photo below, wearing the blue shirt in the back!  The other photo is of Ms. Hedegaard addressing all 164 of us and dozens of journalists.

The declaration outlines our concerns and recommendations. For example, we propose that:

“Governments of industrialized countries should contribute more, through financial and technological support, to the adaptation of developing countries to climate change.”

This became clear when we discussed climate change with delegates from Kenya.  These young people are already experiencing the consequences of climate change, like flooding, walking up to 25 km to fetch water, drought, disease, deforestation, and worse!   Major polluting countries such as Canada created these consequences for our peers, making us realize many things.

You can download a pdf of the full declaration here, or stream an audio clip.

You can also view our messages to the COP15 below, with Maryse representing Canada.
 

The presentation of the declaration was the consecration of everything we accomplished this week and the end of a beautiful experience... After the presentation, all climate ambassadors gathered at front of the stage to sing the forum’s theme song "It's My World" with the band Alien Beat Club. It was really a beautiful moment that we will never forget.  Many wept and it was moving to see so many young people from different countries, backgrounds and beliefs united in this way.

This forum has given us a life lesson. In addition to learning more about climate change and the experiences of other countries, we have learned more about ourselves. We came back with unforgettable memories and, of course, a host of new ideas and projects!

Do not assume that because we came back from Copenhagen, our mission is complete, Of course it is not!  We are now the ambassadors of climate Canada and we take our role very seriously.  We plan to talk about our trip, talk about what we lived and experienced, and educate as many people as possible to the causes of climate change, because we believe that the solution comes with awareness. Communication is the first idea that we promoted from the beginning and we want to continue to promote for a long time...

We also want to know what YOU think.  You can share your comments on UNICEF's Facebook page, or reply to @UNICEFLive on Twitter.

What do you have to say, Canada?

Thursday December 3, 2009  

It’s day 7 in Copenhagen and we can’t believe that our week is coming to a close!  Today was a hectic but exciting day, as for the first time since the conference began all 164 climate ambassadors were gathered in one room to look at the first draft the recommendations to be delivered to the COP15 president tomorrow. 

As young people, we are affected by the decisions made by global leaders.  This declaration gives us the opportunity to influence their decisions as they listen to what we have to say on climate change.

Just as we thought our day was winding down, we had more interest group meetings to discuss advocacy, political strategy, communications, risk reduction, and culture and community. We can’t wait to put these ideas into practice!

Wednesday December 2, 2009 

This week, we have been discussing climate change and its impact on communities around the world. It’s been an amazing experience so far, as everyone has been incredibly passionate and eager to create change. Needless to say, we are very excited to develop our recommendations for the COP15 president!

The chance to meet with other delegates has been eye-opening. Today, we had another eye-opening experience as we visited UNICEF’s Supply Division Warehouse in Copenhagen.  There were tons of life-saving supplies in the warehouse ready to be delivered to the field, including countries devastated by natural disasters caused by climate change. The visit reinforced that the fact that we have to create proactive climate solutions.

We were also reminded of home when were interviewed by CBC’s Radio Canada!  The French interview can be streamed here.

You can also check out our Flickr album to see the photos we've taken so far.

Tuesday December 1, 2009

Alexandre was interviewed by Unite for Climate TV!  As our Climate Ambassador, Alexandre discussed what climate change means for Canadians and how challenging it is to represent everyone at the Forum.  We want our government to start thinking green - and hopefully our declaration to the COP15 will bring forth some much needed change!

Check out the other episodes of Unite for Climate TV! They broadcast live every day at 12 pm EST.

Monday November 30, 2009

Today was a day of workshops and a visit to a sister school in Copenhagen.  It was interesting to hear the other CCF delegates discuss how climate change has impacted their countries - like Zakarai from Morocco and Fabian from Kenya. Adaptation seems to be the best solution to address the catastrophes brought about by climate change.

Every day, Danish secondary school students interview CCF delegates and it is really interesting because it is youth interviewing youth.  Today, a journalist asked Sabrina why she chose to attend the CCF. This is what she had to say:

"I think that climate change is a huge issue and I believe that it's important to take action. By attending the Children's Climate Forum, I feel like I take action. Because I bring my knowledge and share it with all the delegates from the other countries, while I learn so much from them. Then I go home with so much new knowledge, which I can share at home."

Sabrina's quote appears in today's issue of the CCF newspaper, Climate: Young 2 Young.

Here's a picture of us from one of our presentations:

Sunday November 29, 2009

Today we began our first discussions about climate change. Each one of us chose a subject in which we discussed and proposed adaptation solutions to climate change, especially as it relates to children around the world. Alexandre was in the climate justice group, which discussed the responsibility of developed nations to support developing nations in their efforts to address climate change, especially since children in developing countries will be affected disproportionately by the effects of climate change. Sabrina and Jean-Frederic discussed urbanization and how to create more climate friendly cities, and Maryse discussed food and agriculture and explored ways in which we can feed the every increasing numbers of people in a more sustainable manner. The next workshops will be about mitigation and how we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.

At 4 pm we saw the traditional lighting of the Christmas  tree, which was a bit different this year, because the energy for the lights is produced by bicycling! How Danish! For this occasion it was politicians that were riding the bikes.

In the evening, while Jean-Frederic was interviewed by CBC TV, we rehearsed the official CCFC song, "It's My World!" with Alien Beat Club, the Danish group who will lead us in the song at the closing ceremonies on Friday. They also performed their new song, "My Way." It was so amazing and impressive to be near such stars.

Here's a recap of the last two days:

Saturday November 28, 2009

This was the first official day of the Children's Climate Forum, so there were a lot of meetings, workshops and events throughout the day. We had an opening ceremony that had singing, speeches, and dancing. The ceremony was covered by Danish media, and we were welcomed to the Forum by Her Royal Highness Countess Alexandra, the patron of UNICEF Denmark.

After that, we set up our country exhibition and had the chance to visit those of the other countries. This gave us the chance to meet the other delegates and make some new friends. In the afternoon there were very interesting presentations on climate change.

At the end of the day, every member of every team chose an interest group. Jean-Frederic is in the Communications Team, Maryse is in the Climate Ambassador Team, and Alexandre and Sabrina are in the team that will write the official declaration that will be presented on Friday to the President of COP 15.

After a hard day of work it is time to go to bed!

Friday November 27, 2009

After a long flight of 8.5 hours, we finally arrived in Copenhagen. On our way to the hostel, we saw a beautiful city. Maryse and Sabrina are sharing their room with two girls from Finland one girl from Brazil. The Brazilian girl only speaks Portuguese so the communication has been interesting, involving much sign language and smiles! Alexandre and Jean-Frederic were alone in their room, and then were woken up by the arrival of their two German roommates.

We spent part of the first day touring the city, prior to the start of the Forum on Saturday. We walked on pedestrian-only streets and visited the centre of the city, and then walked along Nyhavn to view the beautiful boats.

The food we are eating is wonderful. Before we left everyone told us that we would only get fish, but we haven't had fish yet!

From your Get Reel Team, Young Informed People about Climate Change