School children and youth learn about climate change at conference

Our youth organisation, Green Hope UAE, organised a hugely successful student-led Climate Change Conference in November, which was attended by over 120 youth delegates from schools in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman.

Green Hope UAE is a youth-led organisation with more than 800 members, ranging from nine-year-olds to university students. Green Hope UAE provides an engagement platform for young people to work on community-led “action projects” on various aspects of sustainable development. It regularly conducts “environment academies” through which children and youth learn about climate change, future justice, MDGs & the post-2015 agenda and gender equality.

The conference was a simulation of the negotiation processes adopted by nations, as a part of the COP in MyCity movement, a worldwide youth mobilisation project on climate change. The 100-plus delegates at this conference represented various nations and stated their country’s position on climate change, carbon emission reductions, environment and development policy.

The participating youth were able to simulate a real-life negotiation process as it happens at COP conferences. Apart from gaining valuable experiences on United Nations processes it was also an emphatic engagement platform for young people to demonstrate their aspirations for a green and zero-carbon future.

Several of the participating schools also demonstrated environmental models of carbon-friendly cities, using alternate energy and opting for sustainable transport. Delegate after delegate urged faster actions from both developing and developed nations to act on their promises of cutting down on carbon emissions and move to a green economy.

HE Ambassador of Philippines, Ms Grace Relucio-Princesa, lent her support for these young green crusaders by attending the event. In an inspirational closing speech, she urged the youth to lead from the front so that they could turn their dreams of a green sustainable world into a reality.