Schools join fight against climate change as part of 10:10 campaign.
ActionAid today launched its CountDown to Copenhagen campaign to
get schoolchildren's voices heard ahead of the critical climate talks in Copenhagen in December and to encourage schools to join the 10:10 campaign.
ActionAid's campaign
is co-ordinating the schools arm of 10:10, the mass UK campaign which is asking companies, institutions and individuals to pledge a reduction in their carbon emissions of 10% in one year. ActionAid is
offering a free starter pack to help teachers explain what is at stake, ensure every child's voice is heard and help get a good deal at Copenhagen.
In East Africa, ActionAid has
witnessed the devastating effects that climate change is having on many of the communities it is working with. Some of the most
vulnerable children and their families are now experiencing more and more extreme weather. CountDown to Copenhagen includes posters and stories about some of these young people and the resources
explain to young people that how we all act affects peoples' lives in other parts of the world.
Copenhagen, Denmark, is the venue for discussions about the future of the Kyoto
Protocol, which ends in 2012. A new international agreement must be signed and into force in the next two years to stop runaway climate change. ActionAid wants to involve schoolchildren in the battle
to save the climate and make sure that their voices are heard.
In the run up to what is being seen as one of the most important events in history, schools are being asked to: • Create 'sand and dust' messages (to represent the land turning to dust in East Africa) and send them to Ed Miliband who will be representing the UK in
Copenhagen. • Hold 'Mini Copenhagen' summits to work out the best deal • Show world leaders the way by signing up to 10:10 and
joining our schools challenge to see if your school can cut carbon emissions by 10% in a year.
Fox School in Notting Hill, London is the first school to sign up to 10:10. Headmaster Paul Cotter said: "We are delighted to be one of the first schools to sign up to 10:10. We believe that the whole school community has a major part to play in carbon reduction.
It is the children of Fox School and their children who will be really hurt by the affects of global warming.
"We aim to reduce our carbon emissions through reflective window film
which will reduce the use of fans in classrooms, solar panels on the roof, LED lighting across the whole school as well as reduction of daily use of electricity through turning lights and computers
off."
The FREE CountDown to Copenhagen starter pack includes: • A CountDown to Copenhagen DVD with film clips, images, case studies and
activities • The story of the food crisis in east Africa • Instructions for holding your own climate summit •
Posters and stickers to raise awareness
Janet Convery, Head of Schools and Youth at ActionAid, said: "We are very inspired to see how schoolchildren really do care, not
only about their environment but also how climate change is already having such devastating effects on the lives of their peers in the developing world. I am sure that with the help of the CountDown
to Copenhagen resources, thousands of young people will be able to add their voice to this debate in the run up to what is possibly the most important summit this decade."
1. For information about CountDown to Copenhagen please contact: Anjali Kwatra, Head of News, ActionAid: 0207 561 7633 or 07941 371357 Anjal.kwatra@actionaid.org.uk
2. The CountDown to Copenhagen website www.actionaid.org.uk/countdown features lesson plans, loads of activity ideas and case studies of children affected by
climate change in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world. It also links through to the 10:10 website www.1010uk.org so that schools can join
other organisations and individuals across the nation in signing up to this challenge.
3. What is a good deal? • It is vital that global emissions are cut
to keep temperature rise to around 2°C. Beyond this we are in the realms of 'runaway' climate change. To achieve this we must persuade the countries who have historically been
responsible for current levels of greenhouse gases to make very large cuts of at least 80% by 2050. • Even at 2°C, many countries, such as Kenya, will still suffer
severe impacts from climate change. It is vital that we support them with technical and financial assistance to adapt to climate change. • And, we must support poorer
countries and emerging economies to develop using low carbon technologies, if we want them to avoid the fossil fuel route used by developed nations.
4. ActionAid is a unique
partnership of people who are fighting for a world without poverty, in which every person can exercise their right to a life of dignity. We work with poor and marginalised people to help eradicate
poverty by overcoming the injustice and inequity that cause it. www.actionaid.org.uk
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers and officials release a female white rhino from a cage at Nairobi National Park, September 1, 2009, during the translocation of 10 rare white rhinos from ...
