UNICEF UK young activist interviews Scottish Minister about climate change
23 October 2009
Fourteen-year-old Graeme McGhee, a young climate activist from Glasgow, visited the Scottish Government to interview John Swinney, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Sustainable Development and Finance, about Scotland's action on climate change.
Graeme was selected by UNICEF UK as one of four young climate activists to represent the UK at UNICEF's international Children's Climate Change Forum in Copenhagen, which takes place the week before the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP15) in December.
Graeme will attend the Forum alongside 160 other young people from approximately 42 countries, who will discuss global climate change and the impacts of these changes on their lives. They will have the chance to voice their concerns and ideas to world leaders attending the UNFCCC COP15.
The young UK delegates, also known as the Copenhagen Four, have a busy schedule ahead of the summit. For Graeme, this included a visit to the Scottish Government to interview Mr Swinney on what the Scottish Government are hoping to get out of COP15 and how it can deal with climate change in a recession. He also heard about what the Scottish Government are doing to make themselves a greener organisation.
The interview with Mr Swinney was covered by BBC Scotland and is due to be broadcast in the run up to COP15.
Before the interview, Graeme explained: "I'll be asking Mr Swinney what he thinks teenagers can do to make a difference, how we deal with climate change and how Scotland can make a contribution and have an impact."
Graeme will also be meeting with David Kidney MP, the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Looking ahead to the international Children's Forum, Graeme said: "I think it will be a great experience, with some really interesting discussions. I'll be involved in work groups looking at various issues including how climate change is portrayed in the media.
"I really want the world leaders to listen. I don't want it all to be for nothing but to have a real impact."
Children's Climate Forum
One of the outcomes of the international children's summit will be a declaration containing the children's concerns and ideas on how the world should deal with climate challenges, which will then be handed over to the chairman of the UNFCCC COP15 by the young participants.
After a tough selection process which included filmed testimonies, essay-writing and interviews in London, Graeme was chosen from 140 other young people in the UK who answered UNICEF UK's ‘Big Climate Call Out' on YouTube. Graeme has been travelling all over Scotland to raise awareness of climate change. He has raised points in discussions, talked to politicians and given presentations at schools and local churches.
This year will also be the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Forum will open only a few days after this celebration and will be a concrete and visible example of child participation on what Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon calls "the defining issue of our time." The issues to be discussed at the Forum relate directly to a number of articles in the Convention, such as the right to be heard, the right to have a healthy environment and the right to participate in making decisions that affect them.
Graeme said, "I applied for UNICEF's CCCF because I wanted to give young people a voice on the issue of climate change. I'm looking forward to hearing from young people all over the world about how climate change is affecting where they live. I want us to unite and reach an agreement that will change all our lives for the better. We may be the leaders of tomorrow but our governments should not forget that we are the passionate and enthusiastic citizens of today. Over 80 per cent of the world's emissions come from fossil fuels, every minute 2,000 trees are chopped down illegally, and every two minutes a child dies because of just the direct effects of global warming - we have to do something now!"
Lucy Stone, UNICEF UK Climate Change Project Manager, added, "It is vital that the voices of children and young people are heard at this meeting. We need all Governments to agree to a fair global deal that drastically reduces the world's carbon emissions in the short term, provides support for the already devastating effects, and upholds the commitments already made to the rights of all children."
