The UK Delegation in Copenhagen pledging their handprints in all the colours of the rainbow on a large globe.
UNICEF UK/2009/Rowan Boase
Everything you wanted to know about the Copenhagen Children’s Climate Forum.
Read the Final Declaration here
Who took part:
160 children, between 14 and 17 years of age , from 44 developing and industrialized countries around the world. Representing the UK are Cressie, Graham, Katie and Luke who won this year’s UNICEF Big Climate Callout competition.
Children from the following countries participated:
Andorra , Bangladesh , Bolivia , Brazil , Canada , China , Denmark , Finland , Germany , Greenland , Haiti , Hong Kong , Iceland , India , Indonesia , Ireland , Italy , Kenya , Kiribati , Republic of Korea , Luxembourg , Malawi , Maldives , Mongolia , Morocco , Nepal , New Zealand , Nigeria , Norway , Poland , Portugal , Russia , Senegal , Slovakia , South Africa , Spain, Sweden , Switzerland , Tajikistan , Turkey , United Kingdom , USA , Vietnam and Zambia.
See the blue balloons on the map below to see just how far and wide they travelled from. The red balloons refer to climate change organisations who worked with the young people and purple to climate change campaigns.
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When:
November 28 – December 4, 2009.
Where:
Copenhagen City Hall, Copenhagen.
What:
The official Children’s Climate Forum took place in the week leading up to the most important negotiations on climate change (the COP15) that has ever taken place since the signing of the Kyoto treaty in 1997. What makes the Copenhagen COP15 talks different to other international negotiations, such as the G8 or G20 is that the final agreement will be legally binding. It will be the moment when the entire world has the opportunity to act together to limit global warming and its effects on our planet.
Similar to the Junior 8 workshops , the delegates at the children’s forum have spent the week negotiating and drafting a final declaration that will be presented to the President of the COP15 at the forum closing session.
Why:
Young people of today bear the consequences of climate change, thanks to the unfortunate decisions made by their elders. Not only will the conference give young people from both developing and industrialized countries a voice in the global climate change debate, they will have the chance to directly influence the important decisions made by their leaders at COP15.
As UK delegate, Katie points out in her reasons for applying to be part of the team chosen to go to Copenhagen:
“Decisions will be made at Copenhagen that will affect the rest of my life. When I heard I could be part of it , whilst empowering other young people to get their voices heard I could not stop myself from applying!”
What Did the Delegates Hope to Achieve?
In short , two major outcomes - cuts in emissions and cash to help poor countries.
Global CO2 emissions must fall at least 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. If emissions are not cut fast enough , and global warming is allowed to exceed 2°C (average temperature has already risen by almost 0.8°C) , the impact on water resources , food production , sea levels , and ecosystems is predicted to be catastrophic for millions of people.
It might not seem like global warming has anything to do with the economic meltdown , but the two issues are actually closely interconnected. Reducing carbon emissions will not only stabilize the climate , but also stabilize energy costs. Investing in alternative energy and conservation is predicted to create more than 20 million new jobs in everything from wind farming to biofuels to weatherproofing.
Poor countries bear the terrible cost of climate change – especially those who are reliant on traditional farming methods as they are most affected by weather-related natural disasters impacting on food , energy and water
Background:
When adults are making decisions that affect children , children have the right to say what they think should happen and have their opinions taken into account. This is the fundamental message of article 12 of the UNCRC. This Convention encourages adults to listen to the opinions of children and involve them in decision-making. In a world affected by climate change , UNICEF is dedicated to giving children an opportunity to get involved in the global climate debate.
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