Have a look around our venue. Here’s Ros to guide you through…
Heba: We’ve arrived in Copenhagen! Jacques (our Sound Engineer) and I arrived late last night in the Danish capital and we’re ready to hit the ground running – the youth debate is tomorrow (Thursday 17th December).
Today we awoke to news that Environment ministers are holding talks here against the backdrop of threats of large-scale protests by environmental groups. Talks are still deadlocked over emission cuts and financial aid for poorer countries.
We had a great response to out discussion last Friday on the growing friction between rich and poor nations on who will foot the bill for any initiatives, or agreements that may come through from this summit. Perhaps we should continue with that discussion?
Tonight the whole team will meet some of the British Council’s Climate Change Champions to discuss potential areas of discussion for tomorrow’s debate and broadcast.
So continue to send us your ideas. What should we be talking about?
WHYS will be in Copenhagen next week at the above rather nice venue talking with an audience of 800 or so predominantly young people who care about climate change.
It’s called the Greatest Youth Debate on Earth and has been organised by the World Service Trust, the British Council (with their climate champions) and the Africa Talks Climate team.
The agenda – as always – will be down to the audience in the room, and the wider WHYS community. We will (very unusually) have to pre-record so if you want to take part let us know as soon as you can.
RSS feed
BBC World Have Your Say 
This as I have expressed in previous topics is all a deception, the idea that man is the major driving force behind Climate Change is just absurd. It’s about re-distrubution of wealth and halting production in developing nations. There is so much evidence of this, I’m sure we are all aware of the Climategate emails now and the fact is simple. If the numbers dont work, cook the books and delete the evidence, then try to discredit every scientist that doesnt agree with you.
But hi-jacking the peer review processes and claiming the general public isnt smart enough to understand the true intentions of your emails wont save you when documents are leaked ahead of talks at Copenhagen, namely giving nations such as UK, Norway, Denmark and the US twice the ‘carbon allowance’ per person as developing nations, and writing in the small print the ‘any money donated for the cause of helping developing nations combat global warming will come out of aid agreements allready signed.’ I’m surprised more nations haven’t walked out allready.
I am happy to help in any way, but please be aware of the time difference living in NZ. Hopefully somthing better will come from these talks than the offical meetings, the youth are our future they deserve a voice that isnt chosen for them.
Looking forward to it!
I would like to attend if there is room. Please send me an e-mail on date and time.
Good to hear from you, Lucy.
Are you a ‘Climate Change Champion’?
Our audience – in the hall, that is – will comprise of the British Council’s Climate Champions. But you can join us in the usual ways: blog; twitter; e-mail or on the phone +44 (0)20 7083 7272.
Get in touch!
All those who are so adamant about climate change and have the loudest voices should foot the bill. Then we can see their real colors. Scientist have made many mistakes over the years and the consequences have been catastrophic.
Southport Qld Australia
Will sonebody please give Gordon Brown a recteylineal kick and remind him that charity begins at home,as the Americans keep reminding us,and when you have one in four children living below the poverty line and the air becomming so poluted and poisoning all of us, you cannot go around,looking for fame, and throwing scarce money at wars,climate change and people who insist on living in uninhabital areas. ( Climate change will come about anyway if nature intends it to) and why?! Because he cannot plan and run Britains economy so he exports the focus overseas and comcentrates on other peoples promblems. Just like tricky Dickie used to do.
I think this will be comical. Those with energy, untested principal, no monetary stake and blind trust will have a discussion. Don’t misunderstand me, they may very well come up with some excellent ideas. Youth frequently does that. I hope they question everything. But implementing the ideas without causing more problems than they solve is something else. Older minds without vested interests are needed for that.
I think we should all clean up our house before we go looking to fix up our neighbors. Put more clearly, the wealthier countries haven’t done enough to fix their own countries. They should be taking care of themselves. Charity starts at home. The United States needs more commuter options, cleaned up industry, and energy efficient homes and commercial buildings. Oh and don’t forget renewable energy production. Yes we still burn coal to make electricity. When we are doing things right maybe other countries will not think we are hypocrates to tell them what they should be doing. Then we can give them money for focused projects to improve their infrustructure without over polluting.
Tracy
Portland, OR
Good to see some common sense from Tracy of USA. world need people with vision and ability to see through ahead for a century and start incremental action now so one day after several decades , can sit in an arms chair and claim that one has done it all his or her life. Engineers think of 1000 year flood ahead to design and build a dam and thinking of 100 year ahead is normal for any structure while acknowleging some fail even during 100 years due to larger flood or larger earthquake than predicted.
That seem to be the case of bridges collapsing or sinking due to heavy floods in recent times.
Wow a conference to plan the weather for the next 50 years.
Time for a brain check…
Don’t underestimate the power of concerned people who band together.
Get real everybody. Paul Erlich gave a talk in Perth, Australia in 1998. In that talk he said that when he was born in 1930 the estimated global population was 2 billion.
By 2000 the population was projected to reach 6 billion.
So, in one person’s lifetime i.e. 70 years, the human population has trebled!!! Do you really think that our world could sustain 18 billion people and all their effluent by year 2070? C’mon. wake up! 18 BILLION!!!
By 2140 – 54 BILLION PEOPLE?
Whether or not we can influence the environment to benefit us, surely we cannot continue to multiply at this rate. The main problem – too many people.
Simple and obvious.
But why isn’t it the MAIN topic of discussion. Why don’t we have strategies to deal with it? It’s the gigantic elephant in the room. It won’t go away, despite all of the political and religious propaganda
Answer: we don’t want to/we don’t know how to.
Conclusion: species purge via war, starvation, disease and catastrophe.
Please convince me I’m wrong, I don’t want to be right about this!
I’ve been selected to attend.
@Tom, from what I know, most of us who have been invited to the youth debate will also be attending the actual ‘greatest debate on earth’. They have been very scant on details, so it is currently unknown whether we (the students) will be able to contribute into the actual televised event. Having said that, If they do open the forum for discussion amongst attendees, I am sure we will endeavor to engage with them personally, hopefully asking questions without fear of political implications.
Finally, there isn’t any reason to see amusement in the issue. The concept that we lack political power and monetary funds to contribute at this point in time is obvious. However, do recall that todays youth will lead tomorrow. Small, trivial and ‘insignificant’ forums like this will hopefully strike a chord with those that may be in the hot seat in the future. Don’t let the lack of action in the past seduce you into not believing in change. 🙂 Will try to do my best.
Adelaide, Australia (currently in Copenhagen)
Good to hear that you’ll be there, Zitane. See you in Copenhagen on Thursday.
It isn’t the issue, it is human nature. The general actions are predictable and the outcome is sometimes useful. You face older people trying to first defend their positions while hopefully making things better. They are the problem. We need people willing and able to make and sustain change without causing unnecessary harm. That is what you face.
One possible outcome here. These groups put in the effort. And then the reality of what’s really going on hits. Do they continue in their efforts? Or, will they become apathetic like much of the Stateside public?
Respectfully I disagree with Bisshop Tutu, who proclaims that rich and poor will suffer from the global catastrophies we are getting ourselves into; UNLESS…? I have nothing against companies doing well, reinvesting, growing, and distributing wealth where demand is urgent. However the individuals bleeding their own companies dry, stuffing their “number-one” pockets, will buy themselves preferential treatment when earth is loosing its’ generosity: clean air & water, reasonable ambiant temperatures, peaceful weather etc etc you can bet your not-so-sweetself-interest has already been out of the window. Underground top of the line bunkers will house the precious few With their demure staff under leadership of major-domes, defended by top of the line weaponry and trained guard-dogs….. got my drift?
Taken from the book This other Eden by Ben Elton “In marketing terms the end of the world will be very big. Anyone trying to save it should remember that.” The book is sort of about what you are foretelling.
RE “” I’m sure we are all aware of the Climategate emails now and the fact is simple. If the numbers dont work, cook the books “”
—————————————————————–
—————- So you prefer the cooking of the books via the way modern politics and global finance is run, eh?
Brilliant!
I’ll let my fellow 8 billion unwashed, starving, masses scouring the earth for something to eat to come calling to the country manor estates of all these fat cats after global warming destroys the nation states and business structures.
Let them eat cake with just desserts.
The climate change is not going to discriminate between the rich and the poor; any further delays to react and rectify the flaws, caused by us, will endanger the very existence of most of the species on the earth, including the human beings. Even if a concrete solution/agenda to the problem is not arrived at at the Copenhagen, no time must be lost to find what best contributions are made or committed to by all the nations; analyze the commitments and proceed further, followed up by the future plans.
Please go ahead and write-off anybody associated with the “climategate” emails (it would be great if you did that after reading them and understanding their context). That only leaves 99.99% of all serious scientists who agree that anthropogenic climate change is real.
Overpopulation is a, primarily regional, social, environmental, economic and social justice calamity, but really barely related to climate change. 100 Afghans without cars or electricity do not match the Co2 emissions of a single American, Briton, Canadian or Australian and there would be plenty of food for them if we didn’t use 16 pounds of grain to make 1 pound of beef and divert millions of acres of arable land to produce subsidized ethanol. Population is a serious issue that shouldn’t be untouchable, but it is not central to the climate crisis.
I wish to be a part of that great confrence
Good luck
The CLIMAT WARMING SUMMIT shouldn’t have taken place in Copenhagen where the climat is -15 °C but in the Sahel where it does 55°C.
Then the so-called world leaders would know what they are talking about.