Traveller’s blog no 13 - Stephanie

Tuesday, 8 April 2008 | posted by Matt_BC
Climate, Guildford 2008

Hi Everyone!!

As this is a travellers' blog I'm going to tell you about which road I'm heading down at the moment and where it is taking me... and also how the Guildford 60 may meet along this path...

I recently travelled down to London (24th-31^st March) to meet 38 of my fellow International Climate Champions for a week long forum. The Climate Champion initiative which originated in the UK 2 years ago has now spread to the G8+5 countries, with the help of the British Council. There are over 300 Climate Champions worldwide (some countries have more than others) and you have already met two of us in Guildford, Yunan and myself! Our aim is to spread the message that young people will make a difference in tackling climate change and that we will shape our future in many ways. The Guilford 60 know this to be true, as we are all activists in our own right.

The International Climate Champions (three Champs from each country) converged in London to develop the Kobe Challenge - which is what we, the youth, think our Environment Ministers should be doing to tackle climate change. Our aim is much like the one we envisaged in Guildford 2008, only much more focused on climate change. Youth gathering from all around the world, from different cultures and communities and all being effected by climate change in different ways managed to create challenges that we felt encompassed the expectations of youth and the action we feel is needed. Our dialogue was facilitated by Futerra, a leading organisation in communicating sustainability.

In May (18th-25th) we will take the Kobe Challenge to the G8+5 Environment Minister Meeting in Kobe, Japan. We will also present our challenge at a Youth Summit, in the community around us and to the media at large.

In order to make this challenge really effective and inclusive we have developed three versions of the Kobe Challenge, which we want youth around the world to vote on. You do not have to be 18 to vote, this challenge is open too all youth, who ultimately will be the generation coping with climate change. The Kobe Challenge that wins the most votes will be taken on to the Environment Minister meeting. I think it is great that we are trying to represent the voice of youth in this way and it would be awesome if we got 1,000,000 votes! This way we could hold all politicians accountable to our generation.

The International Climate Champions hope that this campaign will mobilize youth around the world to make their voices heard and to take action. We hope this initiative will grow each year in different countries but first we need your help! We need you to carry out two simple actions that will make a big difference and create a ripple effect in spreading our message.

• First, we need everyone to vote on which Challenge they think should go through to Kobe at: www.britishcouncil.org.br/champions
 

• Secondly, please spread the message to all of your friends by asking them to vote too!! If you're feeling really proactive you could check out the You Tube site: www.youtube.com/user/champions4change  and vote on the Our Climate Our Future Our Vote play list using the star rating.

You can also check out our Facebook group: climate champions, where we are discussing ideas on how to raise awareness of climate change and promote action from youth in our communities.

Similar to the Road to Davos project, each Champion is developing an individual challenge and we hope to link these projects through a network and perhaps one action. Of course, we welcome all of your ideas and comments on the Kobe Challenge. Perhaps the Climate Champions work could be a branch in the Global Youth Network we are developing together.

Our paths may interweave in many ways, which show that we are united in many ways too. We are the voice of the youth! The Davos 6 represented our passion and now the International Climate Champions plan to do the same. We are united in our activism, in spreading our message, in taking personal action to make our world a better place. We are united in one future and one planet, but most importantly we all know that we are the change we want to see in the world!

Peace and Love to now and in the future. Keep on being the change!

Stephanie x