Olivia Zhu is one of the four delegates chosen to represent the United States at the Children’s Climate Forum (CCF) taking place in Copenhagen. The U.S. Delegates will be sharing their experiences at the CCF on Fieldnotes

The first morning we had a great time playing what I’m going to call “World-Ball.” We arrived in the main exhibition hall to find a circle of delegates from Italy, Malawi, Indonesia, and elsewhere tossing/kicking/volleying around a humongous inflatable globe.

Climate change is an issue that will affect generations to come, which is why it’s important for the youth to join the discussion.

UNICEF Denmark will organize the first Children’s Climate Forum (CCF) a new youth event linked to the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Much like the Junior 8 Summit (unicefusa.org/j8), the CCF aims to advance young people’s understanding of global issues and provide a platform for them to discuss and advocate on issues of climate change and the environment.

The CCF is designed to give children a voice in the debate and a chance to influence the important discussions made at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC-COP15). The UNICEF Children’s Climate Forum is to be held in parallel to the UNFCCC-COP15 in Copenhagen from November 28-December 5, 2009.

Approximately 180 students have been selected by UNICEF to represent at least 57 countries. The students chosen to represent the United States are:

• Becca Arbacher, Silver Spring, MD
• Pulkit Agrawal, Hialeah, FL
• Chloe Songer, Menlo Park, CA
• Olivia Zhu, Saratoga, CA

Opportunities for youth to join the discussion are not limited to the Children’s Climate Forum. UNICEF is encouraging young people to join the community at www.uniteforclimate.com. There you can find out how young people are responding to climate change, learn about their experiences, and join campaigns from around the world.

Join the community today!

We’ve heard from our four young people who are representing the United States at the Junior 8 Summit, shadowing the G8 summit in Japan. Here’s their third blog posting, written by Manogna, who represented the United States when meeting with the G8 leaders.

Today was an interesting day. It was the day we were all waiting for! The nine representatives of the J8 delegation, including me, left an hour earlier than everyone else to get ready for the meeting with the leaders. During this meeting, we went over possible answers to various questions that could be asked and the basic schedule that we needed to follow.