SES Presentation with Will Steger at the Klima Forum

Wednesday evening we had the amazing opportunity to join the Will Steger Foundation in a presentation at the Klimaforum on, why send a youth delegation from the midwest? Will Steger was of course present, as well as MN State Representative Kate Knuth. The evening started off with an introduction of the Will Steger "Expedition Copenhagen" team and their mission in coming to Copenhagen. The team is comprised of delegates from all over the midwest; young students who specialize in topics such as forestry, mitigation, and financing. For months prior to the COP, each delegate in their respective states worked with youth in their area to raise awareness about the Copenhagen meetings. They did this by visiting high schools and planning a day of events on the international 350 day on October 24th (check out 350.org for more information). Their mission in coming here is to represent the youth of the midwest to the leaders of the world. They are here to add a presence to the youth climate change movement, as well as pressure our government to take action in the face of climate change.

After the introduction of the Steger "Expedition Copenhagen" team, it was then our honor to do a presentation on our school and our own mission in attending these meetings. Beth Shulz and David Garcia began by introducing our school and our school's mission and focus. Then Katie Paulson-Smith took the floor and spoke about YEA MN and the youth action in MN, along with some of the opportunities she has had through her mentorship class at SES. I then spoke about our mission in coming to COP15, how we were able to get here, and the preparation that took place before our departure. Luke Nagel finished it off by speaking about the unique cultural aspect of our school and our connection with our sister school in Landskrona, Sweden, the outreach that we are doing while here in Copenhagen, and our plans for outreach upon our return home. All in all I think we did an outstanding job in representing our school to the 50-70 people in attendance and soon to the many viewers on youtube. It was quite an honor to present about our school along side Will Steger and quite an amazing experience.

Following us were a few other speakers including MN State Representative Kate Knuth who spoke about climate change and policy. The number one thing that I took out of their presentation is that the midwest plays a key role if there any progress at all to be made on climate change policy in America, with several midwestern states having key "swing" senators. We as citizens of a midwestern state have the responsibilty to connect with our legislative representatives and let them know what we think and what we support. We are responsible for whether or not our country will pass climate change legislation or not, so it is very crucial that we work together in a common purpose. All who attended this meeting would say that it was a refreshing meeting with a lot of hope and excitement. It was a call of respect for the youth and all the work we are doing here in Copenhagen to educate others and let our politicians and leaders know that we are watching and we do care.