UNICF (United Nations Children's fund) brought 8 kids from all over the world, ages 15-18, to the COP15 conference in order for the greater community of the world to hear their voices, to see firsthand how climate change effects them and their countries. The children came from places such as Kenya, Haiti, and Bangladesh. We were able to hear, in a side event, how lives of many people are changing because of global warming "You could be on a beach one day and the next day that same beach would be gone" said Axam Maumoon, 15, of the Maldives (pictured on right).
In Haiti, tree planting has become more and more popular, with environmental education a push in the future. Kenya, after experiencing a 5 year drought, has started looking more at how they can reduce climate change. Zambia has been working more on getting girls educated and in school so they can know more about their impact on climate change. Countries large and small, both developed and under developed, are doing everything they can to stop and reverse climate change.
A few members of our delegation were able to see Axam, and another girl (from Haiti) speak in the "Youth Arcade" (a collections of booths run by, and targeted to youth). After Axon's presentation I was able to talk to him one-on-one. He told me of the Maldives' plans to start recycling programs in schools. I gave him my contact information, and invited him to connect with our school.
A sound bite of Axam's speech will be posted once processed.
5 comments:
It sounds like a lot of countries are beginning to implement education programs to teach people about global climate change. I think that education is the biggest part of starting to make a difference. I was wondering what some of the other ideas and techniques are that you've heard of in other countries, and which ones you think would work well in the U.S. as well?
I think the best way to stop climate change is to limit the amount of pollution that is going into the ozone layer. The reason there is so much pollution is becasue of overpopulation. Too many people are driving cars that spit out fumes that go right into the ozone layer. We need to develop better technology for the sake of Earth. The Green house effect is defiantly taking place, and its due to the amount of people on Earth. Every person in the whole entire world helps contribute to this mess, whether they drive a car or not. I would suggest that humanity should not worry so much about people having too many babies, but that people are destroying our planet with current technologies. A technology fixation needs to take effect.
Tyler Scheller
it is very amazing how many different countries this REALLY affects, a lot of people think that global warming will only hurt america, and would change our lifestyle of living, but no matter where you live in the world, industrialized or not, it will still affect the people that live their in the area negatively. i think that it is very good that other countries are trying to get involved in the world crisis, and not to be left behind. great work all you guys are doing. ONE LOVE SON!! hope you guys are having fun!! see you when you get back... make a difference
VINCE MCDONALD
Its really interesting to see how this is affecting other countries, because here it isn't as evident in our everyday lives. do you think that it is more evident in third world countries versus first world? or is it just better hidden in the western world?
Sarah,
This is about all we have heard of, at least me personally about what YOUTH are doing in these specific countries. Hopefully we will be getting together with more youth the next week of the conference to connect and see if they are doing things like we are or where they are at. There are a lot of YOUNGO meetings but unfortunatly we are not able to go to a lot because of time conflictions. I will keep you posted.
Jana,
This is definatly more evident in developing nation (third world isn't really a tern used anymore) because they are not the big emmiters of green house gases and they can do virtually nothing to stop it. These countries are most vunerable for a couple of reasons, one being that a lot of small island nations are developing countries and with the predicted rise in sea level due to glacier melting most or all of their countries will be underwater because they were built at sea level.
One common thing I keep hearing from these nations is that if this happens, if the world doesn't do something about climate change and lets the sea levels rise, are we then as well going to find a place to relocate the people of all of these affected nations. It's a big deal and if we don't start helping developing nations some will be gone forever. And I don't know about you but I find the Maldives beautiful and I don't want to see it underwater forever.
So yes, to answer you question, in more developed countries like the US (especially in MN where we are in a cool climate and not near the ocean...but things are slowly changing there too...) we do not see a lot of the direct destruction that climate change causes. Hope this helped to answer your questions and made sense. Let me know if you need a clarifiers.
THANKS FOR READING!
-Tara
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