C3 Climate Change Conference

Windermere Secondary students are mobilizing around the issue of climate change by organizing the C3-Climate Change Conference on December 11, 2009.

C3 aims to connect secondary school students from across Vancouver at the same time as countries gather in Copenhagen to try and agree upon a new climate deal beyond the failed Kyoto Accord.

Windermere students, concerned about the failure of the accord, mobilized to take an active role in spreading awareness and pressure government leaders to act on the dramatically escalating problem of climate change. The conference aims to inform and educate Vancouver students and to put pressure on government officials and citizens to make changes for a sustainable future. 

One of the conference’s organizers Emily Chan said they are hoping for representation from every secondary school in Vancouver. “Once all the youth are together they’ll get to see that they have the support of other students and the community to make change happen.”

The students have recruited outstanding presenters including Andrew Weaver, one of Canada’s leading climate scientists and major contributor to the Nobel prizewinning work of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) who will present the keynote speech; Harjap Grewal of the Council of Canadians who will be discussing the implications of climate change on global water supplies and Shannon Daub of The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives tackling the issue of climate justice.

In addition, the students have liaised with Maia Green, who is leading the Canadian Youth Delegation into Copenhagen, and will conduct a video conference live from Copenhagen. 

The C3 committee is going for a ZERO waste event – registration is online and there will be composting, recycling on site and attendees are asked to bring their own utensils, bowl, water bottles and name tags.

We are the youth and we believe the time for words is past, now is the time for action. 

REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED UNTIL MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30th, 2009!

Link to the conference blog and registration information at http://c3vancity.wordpress.com/