Traveller’s blog no 13 - Stephanie

Hi
Everyone!!

 

As this is a travellers’ blog I’m going to tell you about which
road I’m heading down at the moment and where it is taking me… and also how
the Guildford 60 may meet along this path…

 

I recently travelled down to London (24th-31st March)
to meet 38 of my fellow International Climate Champions for a week long forum.
The Climate Champion initiative which originated in the UK 2 years ago has now
spread to the G8+5 countries, with the help of the British Council. There are
over 300 Climate Champions worldwide (some countries have more than others) and
you have already met two of us in Guildford, Yunan and myself! Our aim is to
spread the message that young people will make a difference in tackling
climate change and that we will shape our future in many ways. The
Guilford 60 know this to be true, as we are all activists in our own right.

 

n753207694_500189_7163_295 

 

The
International Climate Champions (three Champs from each country) converged in
London to develop the Kobe Challenge – which is what we, the youth, think our
Environment Ministers should be doing to tackle climate change. Our aim is much
like the one we envisaged in Guildford 2008, only much more focused on climate
change. Youth gathering from all around the
world, from different cultures and communities and all being effected by
climate change in different ways managed to create challenges that we felt
encompassed the expectations of youth and the action
we feel is needed. Our dialogue was facilitated by Futerra, a leading
organisation in communicating sustainability.

In
May (18th-25th) we will take the Kobe Challenge to the G8+5 Environment
Minister Meeting in Kobe, Japan. We will also present our challenge at a Youth
Summit, in the community around us and to the media at large.

 

In
order to make this challenge really effective and inclusive we have developed
three versions of the Kobe Challenge, which we want youth around the world to
vote on. You do not have to be 18 to vote, this challenge is open too all
youth, who ultimately will be the generation coping
with climate change. The Kobe Challenge that wins the most votes will be taken
on to the Environment Minister meeting. I think it is great that we are trying
to represent the voice of youth in this way and it would be awesome if we got
1,000,000 votes! This way we could hold all politicians accountable to our
generation.

 

img_1355.jpg_295 

 

The International Climate Champions hope that this campaign
will mobilize youth around the world to make their voices heard and to take
action. We hope this initiative will grow each year in different countries but
first we need your help! We need you to carry out two simple
actions that will make a big difference and create a ripple effect in
spreading our message.

 

  • First, we
    need everyone to vote on which Challenge they think should go through to
    Kobe at: www.britishcouncil.org.br/champions

    •  

  • Secondly, please spread the message to all of your friends by asking them to vote too!! If you’re feeling really proactive you could check out the You Tube site: www.youtube.com/user/champions4change  and vote on the Our Climate Our Future Our Vote play list using the star rating.

 

You
can also check out our Facebook group: climate champions, where we are
discussing ideas on how to raise awareness of climate change and promote action
from youth in our communities.

Similar to the Road to Davos project, each Champion is developing
an individual challenge and we hope to link these projects through a network
and perhaps one action. Of course, we welcome all of your ideas and comments on
the Kobe Challenge. Perhaps the Climate
Champions work could be a branch in the Global Youth Network we are developing
together.

 

img_1424.jpg_295 

 

Our
paths may interweave in many ways, which show that we are united in many ways
too. We are the voice of the youth! The Davos 6 represented our passion and now the International Climate
Champions plan to do the same. We are united in our activism, in spreading our
message, in taking personal action to make our world a better place. We are
united in one future and one planet, but most
importantly we all know that we are the change we want to see in the
world!

 

Peace
and Love to now and in the future. Keep on being the
change!

Stephanie x