Rosa Kouri « It’s Getting Hot In Here

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canadian Youth Make Waves in Bali

NUSA DUA, INDONESIA –

The Canadian Youth Delegation (CYD) to the United Nations Climate Change conference is making waves in Bali, Indonesia during the first week of the major international summit.

“We have come half-way around the world to represent a generation frustrated with inaction” says Sasha Pippenger from Vancouver, British Columbia. “We need a Bali Breakthrough in order to produce a strong mandate for the post 2012-period when the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires.”

These young Canadians are a visible presence throughout the conference, using their creativity and energy to produce daily actions highlighting the need to act urgently to mitigate climate change. Yesterday, youth taught swimming lessons to help conference delegates adapt to future sea level rise brought about by climate change. Today, they are handing out climate change emergency kits.

Not only are young people involved in creative actions, they are also engaged in the policy process. Canadian youth recently met with the official Canadian delegation and are hopeful they will meet with the Minister of the Environment, John Baird, when he arrives at the conference next week. “We are pleased to have opened a dialogue with the official Canadian Delegation, we look forward to building on this opportunity, ensuring that youth engagement becomes a priority in future negotiations and throughout the year,” says Trevor Bennett from Guelph, Ontario.

Continue reading ‘BaliBuzz: (Press Release) Canadian Youth Make Waves in Bali’

Rosa Kouri

Here are my credentials: I was recently recognized by the World Conservation Union as one of 25 oustanding female leaders fighting climate change across the globe. As the National Director of the Sierra Youth Coalition from 2005-2007, Canada's largest youth environmental organization, I was up to my neck in outreach, education, and youth advocacy on climate change both on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and across Canada. In 2005, I played a leadership role in the youth delegation at the UNFCCC COP11/MOP1 in Montreal. I was a founding member of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition. Raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, I completed a joint honors degree in economics and political science from McGill University in Montreal. While at McGill, I founded the Sustainable McGill Project, bicycled the west coast of California to research industrial agriculture and poor working conditions for migrant farmers, and served on the national Board of Directors of the Sierra Club of Canada.