Week Fourteen: UNFCCC Post Three

I was fortunate to sit in on a session presented by UNICEF Youth Ambassadors from all over the world. These were young students who have taken direct action to educate themselves and their peers, families, and communities on the effects of climate change. They came to COP21 with their direct calls to actions for negotiators to both include youth in the decision-making process and to listen to their ideas. These youth are coming from places where the effects of climate change are more immediate and devastating than in most other parts of the world, such as the Philippines, where the speaker’s entire village was wiped out by a typhoon in 2014 and she wasn’t able to go to school for months. Another speaker from central Africa said he is having to spend most of his energy finding and bringing back water for his family instead of spending that energy on going to school. Yet despite these challenges, these students are committed to stopping and fighting the effects of our changing climate. They have more intimate knowledge of the effects of climate change than I or any of the students I teach ever will. But it is their drive to make positive change that I will bring back with me.

I look forward to spending the rest of my time finding more inspiration in the youth that are attending. I plan on bringing back their stories and passion for change to share with the students I teach. For, as one of the students said, “What concerns everyone must be solved by everyone.”