Youth Leaders Activate on Climate Change at Summit

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Issue Area: Climate & Energy

“When young people come together to make a difference, the results are quite unique.  This three day Summit empowered each of us to take our personal stories on climate change and turn them into action.  Together, these students will be a part of the global solution.” 
- Kaitlin Barry, Director of Campus Outreach

The Youth Leadership Summit is a culmination of the UN Foundation’s Global Debates program which engages 2,000 international high schools in climate change debates and action. Winners of this program are brought to New York City and the United Nations for three days of knowledge-exchange, skill-building and service.  

Students Get Climate Answers from UN Officials
Day One

Walking down a busy New York City street to the United Nations on the first day of the Youth Leadership Summit on Climate Change with 150 wide-eyed international students in tow, I knew we were in for an exciting experience.  

“Global issues are problems without passports” - those were first words we heard, from Gillian Sorensen, Senior Advisor for the UN Foundation. Sitting in the stunning Trusteeship Council room, next door to where the General Assembly meets, you could sense that each of us understood the gravity of her words. Gillian emphasized that the UN is the place where “knowledge breaks down cultural barriers,” and “humans connect.” More importantly though, she left us inspired that global leadership is not just for high-level officials, but for individuals like us as well. It was amazing to watch the students and wonder: could one of them be the next Gillian Sorensen or Ban Ki-moon? Or more importantly, what does it mean for them to be a global leader in their own community today? 

During Gillian’s closing remarks, Janos Pasztor, Director of the Secretary-General’s Climate Change Team, entered the room with a book titled “Climate Change Action” tucked under his arm, prepared to deliver the day’s keynote address. Like Gillian, he didn’t tread lightly around the issues but right off the bat emphasized that “climate change is the most global issue that has ever existed.” You could tell how serious he was when he said that the most important of all climate negotiations lies ahead of us in a mere five months at Copenhagen and that it has been “keeping him awake at nights.” 

The restlessness and excitement was evident as students asked him some really tough questions – and several of them were furiously posting Janos’ remarks to Twitter. One student inquired about Janos’ background studying nuclear engineering and what the UN thought of nuclear power. His response: “Let countries decide for themselves, but every nation has an obligation to combat greenhouse gases responsibly.” This answer set the stage for an hour of Q&A’s. While Janos gave a different, more informative response to each question, he left us with one overarching message: “The time is NOW, and EVERYONE must be accountable.” 

As the day wound down and I walked around listening to the students share their individual climate change projects with each other, I felt they were truly living out this message.  Whether they had designed their own operational wind turbine, or developed an interactive video game educating everyday citizens on living environmentally responsible, there was no doubt that they were already taking collective action – and it’s just the start  of what these youth might someday achieve.

Climate Activists Share the Nitty Gritty of Climate Action
Day Two

We arrived early on day two of the Summit at the Ford Foundation for a full day of campaign training. As I looked around, it was clear that we were each ready, coffee in hand, to learn how to get more people involved in climate action. 

To start if off, 10 high-energy youth climate activists took the stage and dove headfirst into the workshop. Their interactive demonstration on climate science and the chronology of the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations was uniquely informative (especially since we were in the very room yesterday at the UN where the UNFCCC was adopted!). 

The students then broke into groups to tell their personal stories about why they became engaged with climate change. The trainers urged the students to think with their heart, head, and hands, which translates to issues, values and action. This was my favorite part of the day because it mixed the students together. An inner-city boy from East L.A. sat next to a girl from Bulgaria who had never been on a plane before, and together they were going to find common ground. While I had the pleasure over the last year getting to know each of these schools and learning about their various initiatives - from planting community gardens, to waste management internships and solar panel installations - none of them had met until now. Yet here we were as one, speaking out against climate change and using our personal stories to inspire each other and move others to action.

On top of learning every campaign detail from online organizing to setting inspirational goals, the students developed their own plans for International Day of Climate Action on October 24th. This is 350.org’s global event in advance of Copenhagen where people from around the world will show elected leaders that they are watching and taking action. October 24th also happens to be UN day. Together, these events will send a resounding message internationally for more people to get active on climate change and learn about the significance of the UN climate negotiations.  

This day of climate training was incredibly important for these students. What it meant, was that all the hard work they had done on behalf of the UN Foundation and their schools to combat climate change throughout the year now had a tangible place to exist outside of their communities. Because of this day, they will go forward belonging to a much bigger movement, led entirely by young people.  
 

Time to Get Our Hands Dirty
Day Three

A sea of green shirts advertising “Combat Climate Change Now!” descended on Highbridge Park in the uppermost part of Manhattan on our last day of the Summit, ready to roll up our sleeves and get started on our service project. We were greeted by staff from the New York Restoration Project, Bette Midler’s organization which protects and preserves NYC’s green spaces, who were there to lead us for the day.
 
The students and volunteers were assigned to different groups. Some to remove invasive species, others to dig up old concrete walkways and replace the area with new sod and grass, and the rest of us to restore a dilapidated playground and mulch garden plots. I observed each station and was overjoyed with how much fun people were having.  The laughter, combined with sweat and tired muscles, was infectious. 

A major component of the UN Foundation’s year-long youth climate program focuses on the students engaging in climate service. Some clean up city streets, while others execute full-blown community petitions, or restore entire miles of unsanitary local waterways. While service might be a requirement in their schools, there was no doubt that they were here today on their own accord. I even saw some of them Twittering throughout the service project. One of their tweets read:  “Amazing project today!  Anyone up for a restoration project in Utah soon?”  

I know the small details, skills learned, friendships made, and culmination of the last few days will carry on with these students when they return back to their various countries. However, nothing would make me happier than if they continue to take real action in their communities. No one doubts that these students know the issue - they debate and research climate change all year long - and I’m glad that the UN Foundation has had a role in motivating them. Yet what do all our studies and words mean if we don’t actually do something to solve the problem?  Today, though the act was small, I witnessed a team of youth making the world just that much better to live in. It was, and will remain, another powerful reminder that when we come together, turn off 10 lights or plant one million trees, we will make difference.

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