Category: youth

Act Now

Today is Friday and for many young people around the world that means Fridays for Future, the youth movement started by a young girl sitting alone outside the Swedish parliament. Greta was soon joined by others and today let’s celebrate youth activists at COP 26 and everywhere who have courageously stepped up to hold their elders to account for the future of the planet: people like Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Dominika Lasota and Vanessa Nakate.

You can support them right now by joining the nearly 1.7 million people who have signed their Emergency Appeal for Climate Action.

But don’t stop there! You can make changes in your daily life that, multiplied by millions of other people, will add up to a huge difference. You can also help influence your family, your school, your community or – like ELT Footprint UK – your profession.

As Greta says, “As citizens across the planet, we urge you to face up to the climate emergency. Not next year. Not next month. Now”

climate change youth

Young people worried

More evidence – from 10 different countries – if it was needed – that young people are worried about climate change. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-58549373

climate change news politics youth

Climate Hypocrisy ctd.

The normally impartial and reliable news from the BBC World Service last night might have been written by a government spokesperson. Leading with the news that our very own Astra Zenica vaccine has now reluctantly been adopted by the French for their older citizens (they didn’t actually use the word ‘world beating’), the bulletin finished with the news that some Australian teenagers are taking their federal government to court over a Whitehaven Coal mine, arguing that the development breaches a common law duty of care to protect young people from future harm. No mention of our very own Whitehaven, where the government has faced a barrage of criticism over its failure to prevent a new coal mine in this year of supposed climate leadership by The UK: see previous post below.

climate change education sustainability youth

Climate Declaration

Post author By Christopher Etchells
Post date 14 December 2020

Congratulations to everyone involved in Mock COP 26, the virtual climate change discussions organised by young people in the absence of this year’s postponed climate talks in Glasgow. The result is the Mock COP Treaty which on education states:

14. Article 12 of the Paris Agreement commits the Parties to cooperate in scaling up and strengthening climate education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information on climate change.

15. Education on climate change and biodiversity, based on the best available science and data, needs to be made available at schools and educational establishments at every level, including informal education. School, college and university buildings and estates must lead by example on sustainability as they form the subliminal curriculum.

16. The Declaration on Children, Youth and Climate Action prepared in 2019 by the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative (‘CERI’), the United Nations International Children’s Fund (‘UNICEF’) and YOUNGO (the Children and Youth constituency to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), already signed by twelve countries, underlines the call for climate change and environmental education, and children’s rights, including the right to a healthy environment.

That is a very useful and clear statement of what needs to happen – indeed should already be happening – in education. Let’s make sure we act on it.

Tags sustainability

biodiversity climate change events youth

Mock COP 26

Post author By Christopher Etchells
Post date 30 November 2020

Great publicity on the UK’s Channel 4 news the other day for the young people engaged in Mock COP, an international youth-led climate conference, mobilising around the postponement of COP26. Tune in on You Tube at midday UTC tomorrow (Tuesday 1 December) for the live closing ceremony and global statement.

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Get ready for MockCOP

Post author By Christopher Etchells
Post date 16 November 2020

This international, youth-led climate conference, mobilising in the absence of the postponed COP 26 UN climate talks, aims to bring the passion and energy of young people to address the world’s climate and ecological crisis. It begs the question as to why young people can organise a virtual conference like this while their elders have to fly around the world and stay in expensive hotels. Takes place 19 November to 1st December. Why not show the MockCOP programme to your students to see what interests them? Then follow along for motivating, challenging, real world content to discuss with your students.

climate change events youth

Mock COP26

Post author By Christopher Etchells
Post date 26 October 2020

From 19th November to 1st December 2020 a youth-led online conference will show the world what would happen if young people were the decision makers. The conference will follow a similar structure to the postponed COP26 climate summit and aims to raise the ambition of world leaders in tackling the climate emergency. Learn more and give your support at https://www.mockcop.org/