Staged in Coffs Harbour on 26 November, the Youth LEADing Australia forum has enabled young voices from the Coffs region to be heard on the world stage.
The forum is one of only seven national youth forums on climate change that will have its resolutions taken to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen from December 7 to 18.
“This is perhaps a once in a lifetime opportunity for the region’s young people to have their voices heard by the World’s policymakers,” said Coffs Harbour Mayor Keith Rhoades.
“Our youth are the custodians of the future and their views on climate change should be heard at the very highest level.
“Having those ideas taken by the youth delegates bound for Copenhagen to a conference that is going to set the world’s environmental agenda for many years to come is a very exciting prospect.”
Councillor Rhoades said the forum was an opportunity for Council to hear what the youth of Coffs Harbour want for their future and their ideas for how the community can address the challenges of climate change.
Key resolutions include:
- running an environmental youth music
festival in Coffs Harbour - establishing an ERC (Environmental
Representative Council) at Woolgoolga
High School to clean up rubbish in
the lake adjacent to their school
grounds and get other students to
undertake an Ecological Footprint
survey - re-establishing Coffs Harbour High
School’s ERC, planting native
trees in the school grounds,
setting up recycling and food
scrap bins in the playground
and creating a vegetable garden
and worm farm.
The Youth LEADing Australia forum was the culmination of a three day Mid North Coast Youth LEADing Australia Climate Congress, held ahead of the Copenhagen summit in December.
Initiated and organised by local environmental education organisation OzGREEN, the congress was one of 12 held across Australia responding to the call for engagement by young people.
It involved youth from across the Mid North Coast discussing the challenges they face and developing action plans on climate action to take back to their schools and communities.
Coffs Harbour City Council contributed $4,000 from its Green Schools Program to support the events.
For further information on the congress or forums visit www.ozgreen.org
