Young people have found their voice! Whether it is through the passionate speeches of Greta Thunberg or the mass movement of the School Strikes 4 Climate, there is no doubt now about the awareness and determination of the generation that are set to inherit a warmer climate.

The demands of the students are simple. Take responsibility! Take action! The reality is, however, highly complex and there is no “silver bullet” that can solve this issue. This is where we can help. ICN’s Climate Voices programme aims to raise awareness of the global challenge, provide opportunities to form and express opinions and give students access to mentors and information that enable them to take action on climate change. This year we will reach more students than ever before.

We kick off the academic year with 5 Climate Conferences this autumn in Bristol, Cheltenham, London (Hounslow), Reading and Solihull. Following the global negotiations, each Climate Conference moves into a Local Action session where students meet with professionals working in sustainability who will inspire and advise on practical climate actions that students can lead in school. The students come out of the Climate Conferences full of passion and enthusiasm to make a difference, and in order to harness that energy and turn it into positive action we are increasing the time that we follow up with students in their schools.

2020 is the year that the UNFCCC Conference of Parties will be hosted by the UK in Glasgow so we are planning to celebrate this important event by getting more young people to participate in a Climate Conference by partnering with organisations across the UK and by rolling out MCC packages that schools can take up themselves. More on this very soon!

Our own organisation is also growing too. We have some great partners and we are enormously grateful to our ever growing team of volunteers who give their time to help us with all parts of our work.  

This is a truly historic moment in the fight against climate change and we are really excited to be able to engage young people with our programmes that have been developed and optimised over the last 10 years.

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Written by

James Streeter

James is Executive Chairman of InterClimate Network. He is one of the first generation to have his full career in sustainability and works with companies to help them achieve “shared value” to business, the environment and society.