November 24, 2005

Climate change fires young minds

By Jeff Coelho

When politicians from around the world meet next week to talk about climate change, young people who will have to live with the consequences of their action or inaction will be nearby, ready to speak out.

From as far afield as China, India and Brazil, young people will travel to Montreal, Canada to take part in the Beyond Kyoto - It's us! International Youth Summit -- being held just down the road from the United Nations talks on climate change.

"There is no issue that I think more threatens the future of our generation than global warming," said Billy Parish, 24, coordinator of Energy Action, a coalition of 30 environmental and social justice organizations in North America.

Parish, who left university to dedicate his time to the environment, will help the international youth team, made up of around 100 young people from 26 countries, to draft a statement to the UN conference.

"I think there will be a strong call for immediate action," he said. "It will make the point that we are the people who will live with the consequences of the decisions that they make."

Energy Action has also set up a Web site, www.itsgettinghotinhere.org, where young delegates will post blogs, video and pictures from Montreal.

During the Cold War, worries about nuclear weapons often drove young people into politics in Western nations. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, climate change has replaced fears about "the bomb" to become a major concern for young people.

He Gang, 24, a student at Peking University in China, does not remember much about the anti-nuclear demonstrations during the Cold War, but he will be in Montreal to act on what many of his peers see as their generation's big threat.

Unlike the danger of swift destruction from a nuclear bomb, today's risk is a slow-burning one.

"That doesn't mean we can wait for action just as you cannot wait to stop smoking when you already have cancer," the Chinese student said.

"I do get a sense of urgency that something needs to be done," he told Reuters via e-mail. "I hope I can become a 'messenger' on climate change for Chinese youth."

CALL FOR ACTION

Many scientists say a buildup of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels could have catastrophic effects on the climate by raising temperatures, spurring more hurricanes, spreading deserts and raising sea levels.

The delegates from around 190 countries meeting in Montreal will be looking to expand a U.N.-led fight against global warming to include developing nations such as China and India and outsiders, led by the United States and Australia.

Under the UN's Kyoto Protocol, about 40 rich nations have agreed to curb emissions of heat-trapping gases released by burning fossil fuels in power plants, factories and cars by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.

Young campaigners say the big challenge is to get the United States, the top consumer of emission-polluting energy, to commit to binding targets while allowing poorer countries to expand their economies without making initial sacrifices.

In 2001, President George W. Bush rejected the Kyoto pact, saying it wrongly excluded developing countries before 2012 and would harm the U.S. economy.

Bush, who prefers voluntary agreements, is working with Australia and four Asian nations including China on ways to curb greenhouse emissions without hurting economic development.

But environmental youth groups, and some U.S. city and state governments, have distanced themselves from Bush's plans, saying the most effective way to cut emissions is to set hard targets.

"Legally binding agreements are a more effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Kavita Singh, 25, who will represent Indian youth in Montreal, said in an e-mail response to Reuters' questions.

Singh fears that without decisive political action, further disruptions in the climate will cause "mass loss of human life, the spread or exacerbation of diseases, dislocation of entire populations, geopolitical instability and a disastrous decrease in the quality of human life."

PICTURE THIS

Nathan Wyeth, a 20-year-old student in New York, is not waiting for politicians. He is acting himself.

On a recent sunny Saturday afternoon, Wyeth was indoors explaining the benefits of clean energy to a classroom of people who were mostly older than him.

Wyeth, who is the conservation director of the Sierra Student Coalition, said politicians must set aside their ideological differences and embrace existing technology like wind power and solar energy to replace oil and coal.
Wyeth said that if countries delay in taking action on climate change "the cost ... is going to be far greater."

Should the official delegates to Montreal be tempted to forget the views of people like Wyeth, there will be a reminder in the welcome packs they receive on arrival: a drawing by a schoolchild showing ways to protect the planet.

"The delegates will have their own personalized drawing by a child that obviously shows that the child is aware that climate change is going on and that they are concerned," said Claire Stockwell, project coordinator for the youth summit who also works for Quebec-based youth group Environment Jeunesse.

The 3,000 drawings were prepared by children in countries like Burkina Faso, Mexico, Brazil and China.

"The dangers of not acting are becoming increasingly apparent for our health, our environment, our security and our prosperity," said Wyeth.