As the world continues to witness the effects of climate change upon the globe’s fragile ecosystem, possible economic and financial solutions to reducing carbon and mitigating the effects of climate change are being explored this week when the Youth Forum on Climate Finance kicks off at the UK Expo Pavilion on 2 September.

A select group of young people from across the world concerned about climate change will gather in Shanghai 2-6 September for a dedicated exploration of economic solutions to reducing carbon in the world today. The International Youth Forum on Climate Finance will bring together 38 young people from 16 countries including China to develop a shared understanding of the financial issues related to climate change. The young people will discuss and debate different climate change finance solutions before agreeing on a Declaration of International Youth Forum on Climate Finance that will be announced on 6 September.

The young people are all part of the British Council’s (operating in China as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy) Climate Generation programme, a network of 3000 young people aged 11-35 in 60 countries. Passionate about making a real and lasting difference, British Council Climate Champions are provided with support and training to help them take their climate change projects and initiatives into education institutions, their communities and regions. Discussion and exchange of ideas with people from other countries also helps broaden their awareness of the problem.

Held in China’s centre for finance and coinciding with the Shanghai World Expo, the Youth Forum will draw attention to the financial solutions to climate change at a time when focus is drawn to sustainability and climate change issues. It is expected that because they are best placed to highlight the effect of climate change for future generations, young people will offer their own unique viewpoint on this global issue.

The young people will hear presentations from some of the world’s most influential thinkers on climate change finance including Dr Sam Fankhauser from the London School of Economics and Professor Pan Jiahua from the China Academy of Social Sciences. Speakers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise, allowing the young people to access various facets of this complex and multi-layered issue.

The Youth Forum represents a landmark that will feed in to future international climate change negotiations including the upcoming Cancun meeting in November. Says Head of Climate Change at the British Council Dr. David Viner: “It is vitally important that young people develop the understanding of finance, markets and economics that will enable them to explore solutions with experts around the world. The British Council approach to climate change is to increase the understanding of the issues and possible solutions for climate change and to increase support for an international agreements on climate change and sustainability. Only through developing shared understanding and strengthening relationships around the world can we aim to sustain an international consensus that leads to positive collective action in tackling climate change and creating a sustainable future.”

The Youth Forum is organised by the British Council (operating in China as the Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy) and the China Science and Technology Exchange Centre in partnership with Caijing Magazine.

Notes

Participants

About 38 Climate Champions from 16 countries will participate in the event. They have been selected from more than 50 applications from 21 countries. The Champions are aged 18 and over and have all conducted their climate change related projects in their home countries demonstrating their strong interest and understanding of climate finance. They are from both developing and developed countries including China, UK, France, Denmark, Canada, India, Korea, Japan, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Zambia and so on.

About Climate Champions

British Council’s Climate Generation programme encourages young people interested in tackling climate change to connect with each other, come up with local solutions and reach out to local, national and international decision-makers. As “Climate Champions”, programme participants have access to the training and information they need to ignite discussion in their communities and devise projects that will help people adapt to and mitigate climate change. The result is a global network of enthusiastic young people with the knowledge, contacts and on-the-ground resources to take action on climate change and make positive contributions to people’s lives. Climate Champions come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have included an independent filmmaker from Finland, a musician from Nepal, and a civil engineering student from Bangladesh.