By Vicki Soanes, Advocacy Manager – International UNICEF

Last November, five young New Zealanders travelled to Copenhagen to join 159 other young people from around the world in discussing one of the most important issues of our time – climate change. The UNICEF Children’s Climate Forum took place from November 28 to December 5, 2009, and aimed to give children a voice in this crucial debate.

The ‘Climate Kiwis’ were Erana Walker (17) from Whangarei, Rick Zwaan (16) from Auckland, Phoebe Hunt (17) from Rotorua, and Travis Mills (15) and Abby Ward (17), both from Nelson.

The five delegates were selected from a large pool of candidates, and demonstrated a strong commitment to environmental issues. Already active in their own communities, agreeing to be a delegate to the Children’s Climate Forum was a huge undertaking. They were being asked to represent the children of New Zealand – a responsibility they all took very seriously.

These young kiwis spent months preparing, meeting for training weekends, and devising and distributing a survey to find out what other young New Zealanders thought about our transport options. As their costs were kindly covered by Enviro-challenge, they decided to fundraise so that their peers in Kiribati could travel to the Forum, and through mufti days, film nights and chocolate selling, they raised almost $5000. Three young people from Kiribati were able to share their experience of how it feels to have your entire country at risk from rising sea levels and how the increased salination of the soil is impacting on their ability to grow food. The Kiribati delegation was made up of Josephine Baaro (16), Teako Otia Nebati (15) and Iaoniman Kambati (17).

The UNICEF Children’s Climate Forum was a great success – the delegates learned a lot about the challenges facing children from other countries, and lasting friendships were formed. A declaration was presented to the chair of the COP 15, Connie Hedegard, in which the children committed to personal changes in their own lives and called on governments to take actions to protect the world from the effects of climate change. They said that “the battle against climate change is upon all of us. We are ready to act and we invite you to join us. Climate change is affecting our lives, our families and our future,” stating “we must act immediately and we are ready to fulfill our commitments. We are prepared to give all we have as long as there is the possibility of saving our planet.”  The Declaration concludes by telling the world leaders - “we expect the same courage from you.” 

One of the most important things the young people learnt was that climate change is not only a crisis that has importance for the future. Rather, for many of the delegates from other countries, in particular developing ones, their lives are seriously being affected now. The 164 delegates all agreed to become UNICEF Climate Ambassadors for 2010, a commitment made even more important in the lead up to COP16 in Mexico this December.

The Climate Kiwis came home with a renewed determination to work on the issue of climate change. They are looking forward to sharing their thoughts and experiences with you through this weekly blog.