Monday 28 November

Today was the first day we attended COP17, which is the time of year that leaders from countries around the world come together to negotiate on climate change. While a group of us set up the WAGGGS stand, other delegates went to the first YOUNGO Spokes Council. At this meeting Kristina was chosen to represent YOUNGO at the opening ceremony of COP17.  Other members of our delegation attended the Women’s Caucus, where Beatrice was selected to represent the organizations that advocate for women’s rights within the UNFCCC.

The opening ceremony was led by the President of South Africa who spoke about the problems and solutions to climate change. He highlighted that there needs to be more funding for developing countries and that these countries need support from developed countries in order to combat climate change. He also mentioned that South Africa is trying to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and create 300,000 green jobs by 2020.

At the WAGGGS stand, we were approached by ClimateChangeTV to be interviewed. Fatima and Tiffany were asked about the specific problems in their countries and what message they would like to communicate about youth involvement on climate change. Tiffany also attended a side event where she participated in asking a question to UNICEF about their opinion on non-formal education.

At the end of the day, we can all agree that the first day was a great experience for us to display all of the hard work and preparation we had done over the past week!

Tiffany Dick (South Africa) and Ashley Geddes (Canada)