Wed, 25 Nov 2009 5:34p.m.
Rick Zwaan
By Samantha Hayes
Money meant to fund a trip for Prime Minister John Key to a climate change conference is now helping a group of five teenagers attend a children's forum before the big event on December 7.
The group will meet with young people from around the world to decide what they think should be agreed upon by world leaders.
Sixteen-year-old Rick Zwaan has spent the last three years making his school greener by installing solar walls, auditing energy use and reducing consumption by five percent.
"It's clear that Rick's got a strong personal commitment to environmental issues, and he has used that to be actively involved in the school," says Northcote College principal Vicki Barrie.
He is one of five teenagers aged 15 to 17 chosen to attend Unicef's Children's Climate Forum in Copenhagen next week.
"It's really important for me because it's what's going to affect our generation and the younger generation of today as I grow old," says Rick, "so I really want to enjoy the wonderful world that we have today and in the future without it getting destroyed by catastrophic climate change."
The trip will cost around $20,000 and is being paid for by Unicef, the school programme Enviro Challenge and Greenpeace, who found they couldn't give away $5000.
"The money that we raised for John Key to go to Copenhagen we're now giving to two youth delegations that are on their way to Copenhagen," says Greenpeace's Bunny McDiarmid.
Flying to the other side of the world means the delegates are adding to the emissions problem. Their long-haul flights will add about 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. They plan to offset this by planting 1700 trees.
They say the trip is not all hot air. On December 4 the international youth delegation will present their resolution to the Copenhagen conference president.
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