Of the twelve students selected as delegates to the United Nations Secretary General's High Level Summit on Climate Change, three are from College of Staten Island High School for International Studies. Congratulations to seniors Simit and Adefola and to junior Abetola on their selection by UNICEF to participate in this Summit to collaborate with world leaders on the issue of climate change and what should be done about it. (You can read about how climate change has affected Simit and his family in the comments to our earlier posting announcing the Summit!)
Student delegates are currently spending three days collaborating with one another and UNICEF leaders to prepare for the summit, which is taking place at the United Nations on September 22, 2009. Delegates will participate in the Opening Session of the SG High Level Summit on Climate Change and the First Spouses Luncheon on climate change and children. Student delegates will greet the leaders outside the Secretariat and hand over a personal narrative or "ask" on climate change. Thereafter, student delegates will narrate a five minute film on climate change solutions during the 8 minute long opening session of the Summit. Students will produce this film during their preparatory sessions. They will also participate in the Summit Closing Session. We are confident that our student delegates participation in the Summit and the preparatory program will benefit them educationally and will be an invaluable opportunity.
Student delegates are currently spending three days collaborating with one another and UNICEF leaders to prepare for the summit, which is taking place at the United Nations on September 22, 2009. Delegates will participate in the Opening Session of the SG High Level Summit on Climate Change and the First Spouses Luncheon on climate change and children. Student delegates will greet the leaders outside the Secretariat and hand over a personal narrative or "ask" on climate change. Thereafter, student delegates will narrate a five minute film on climate change solutions during the 8 minute long opening session of the Summit. Students will produce this film during their preparatory sessions. They will also participate in the Summit Closing Session. We are confident that our student delegates participation in the Summit and the preparatory program will benefit them educationally and will be an invaluable opportunity.
8 comments:
Comment from Anthony Conelli:
Congratulations to your students for being selected to participate in the Secretary General's Conference on Climate Change.
Thank you for your dedication to providing students with real and meaningful opportunities to engage in powerful learning experiences.
Anthony
Anthony C. Conelli, Ph.D.
Chief Education Officer
ESO/NYC Department of Education
What fantastic news!
Congratulations to Simit, Adefola and Abetola for such a prestigious recognition of their important contributions to world affairs. I hope it was a fantastic experience and look forward to hearing about it!
This is such a wonderful reflection of the exceptional education CSIHSIS is offering students in the ISSN network. Thanks for sharing this exciting news!
Kate Farmer
Community Relations Director (DCIS)
ISSN Consultant
kate_farmer@dpsk12.org
WOW...This was a wonderful opportunity.
IM JELOUS!!!!
I know it has been a while since the summit, but I will share my views about what happened anyways.
Last month, I was fortunate enough to narrate a film in front of over a hundred world leaders at the Climate Change Summit in New York City.
Although I was glad that Climate Change is being accepted as a major security risk to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and several nations, but the behavior of certain delegates was surprisingly disrespectful. It seemed that the delegates paid close attention when Obama was bragging about the what the U.S. has done so far, but started to leave, take pictures of themselves, or simply talk to each other while Wangari Maathai or Paul Kagame were talking.
Even Yugratna Srivastava, the 13 year old from India, who clearly spent her precious time to create a passionate speech, was ignored by several of the delegates.
Despite the rudeness of some of the UN members, it was satisfying to know that the EU had made a promise to reduce 30 % of its emission by 2020, and several other nations similarly pledged to reduce their emissions.
It was also powerful to hear the President of the Maldives, Mohammed Nasheed, speak honestly about the lack of action from other nations. He was not afraid to say that he has spoken numerous times before and that “deep down I know you are not listening”.
Nicholas Sarkozy’s message was similarly bold because unlike other presidents, prime ministers, and leaders of developed nations, he promised to aid developing nations to grow economically, while reducing their footprint on the environment.
Although I was disappointed by the lack of commitment from the U.S. and the lack of interest from some of the delegates, I know there is a possibility that the discussions that the leaders had at lunch, which were hidden from the public, were perhaps more effective than their speeches and I am waiting to see the results after Copenhagen.
So Simit--and anyone else out there from the CSIHSIS community, if this is an issue you feel strongly about, I am wondering what we as a community can do to help and to persuade the United States to take action!
Oh i just remembered I have a copy of my narrative that was given to the UN delegates, and I am sure Ady and Abi have theirs too. We can post them on this blog, and show them to people in school. Let me know if this is a good idea. Thanks
Great idea Simit! Let's do it as a new post!
i don't know how to make post r if I can, so here's the link to my narrative:
http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/climatechange/shared/Documents/SimitChristian.pdf
my age is messed up, I am obviously not 18, but that's not important.
and I am sure if you type in Ade's and Abi's name instead of mine on the link their narrative will show up.
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