Eduhelpnet World Education Forum Australia Science Teachers Association Tasmania

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition

 

Download a powerpoint on Climate Change and the AYCC here(6MB).

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC: www.aycc.org.au ) is a coalition of youth and environmental organisations from around Australia that have joined together with the aim of giving youth a united voice on climate change. This December the AYCC is sending 20 young Australians to the international climate change negotiations in Poland , where the ‘new Kyoto Protocol' is being created. The ‘new Kyoto Protocol' will determine global policy and greenhouse gas emission reductions until 2020 and beyond, directly affecting the future of youth around the world. This PowerPoint presentation has been put together as a snapshot into the issue of climate change and the international negotiations, that students or teachers can give to a class or year level (there is a prepared speech in the notes section of the power point – this can be adapted as you wish). There is also a request at the end to write messages to the Australian government asking them to protect the future of young people by leading in the international negotiations. These will be turned into a banner of messages and delivered personally to Australia 's government, in Poland , by the Australian youth who are travelling there.

Format of Messages: the messages will need to include the student's name, age and post code, they can be emailed to kirsty.albion@youthclimatecoalition.org or posted to Kirsty Albion, 154 Capel St, North Melbourne, Victoria, 3051 [note: it is Capel St, not Chapel] but will need to be received by 17 November to give us time to turn them into a banner.

Past Messages have said things along the following lines:

  • I care about climate change
  • I care about the coral reefs/alpine ecosystems/polar bears/koalas/sea animals which are threatened by climate change
  • I care about the people in Pacific Islands and other countries that are going to lose their home from rising sea levels
  • I care about the decrease in rainfall in south-east Australia and its impact on farmers, rivers and the environment
  • I care about my future

    • Therefore I want the Australian Government to:

  • lead in the international negotiations
  • make big reductions in greenhouse gases [AYCC recommends 40% reduction by 2020, 95% reduction by 2050 in line with scientific information]
  • help people in developing countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change
  • increase public transport
  • stop deforestation and degradation of Australia 's carbon rich forests – use plantations and recycled paper to meet our paper and wood demand
  • switch to green energy
  • protect my future

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    The AYCC has many other volunteer opportunities as well as running a SwitchedOn Schools program, which includes running regional conferences for students, training climate messengers to give presentations and giving support to school environment groups. If you are interested in becoming involved in SwitchedOn Schools in the new year the web address is: http://www.youthclimatecoalition.org/?page_id=11

    Thank you!

    Other AYCC Resources