Headlines
Climate Change Conference
Climate Change Conference
18th March 2008
Two students, James Langford and Samuel Cove, were invited to attend a one day climate change conference on Friday 22nd February. The conference, organised by the UK Youth Parliament, was held at the Drum Theatre, Birmingham.
“With a 9:30 starting time this meant an early start for us both. On the train it was the usual reading through the day’s edition of The Times etc. Unsure of where exactly The Drum was we racked up an £8.00 taxi fare from New Street to the theatre.
We were told to explore the stands that had been set up. Groups such as Green Peace and Friends of the Earth were all offering propaganda at their respective stalls. James ended up arguing with the Friends of the Earth people about the need to expand Heathrow Airport. This, thankfully, was the only argument of the day!
At 10.00am we were rounded up and headed into the main theatre. Here we found a rather strange band ready to open the conference. They played music using instruments all made from re-cycled junk which of course brought forward the first message of the conference – re-cycle!
After this, the main action started. A series of videos were played showing what the effects of climate change could be. With images of drought and poverty, the audience’s emotions certainly connected to what was being shown. The first speaker of the day then came on – Melody Hossaim – who had the honour to announce that Al Gore had personally “trained” her. What came next was unsurprising – we were given a short and simplified version of the presentation Al Gore used in An Inconvenient Truth. This was to enlighten those who didn’t know what climate change was, or who didn’t know why they were there.
Following the break we then had Liam Byrne talk to us. He is the West Midlands Regional Minister, and he gave us the government line on how important climate change is and what the government is doing to combat it. We then had David Kidney, MP for Staffordshire, come on and tell us how important young people were in the fight against climate change.
After lunch was the main event of the day – the debate! Joining our two MPs and Melody was Chris Creen from Friends of the Earth and another female speaker. Question one to the panel: “How did you get here today?” While Chris had cycled, and the others had commuted, the MP had used his car and the minister had been driven. This came as no surprise to the audience…
The questions went on. Generally they highlighted how little our government is doing, how good Friends of the Earth are, and how much of a dislike our female panellist had for Birmingham City Council!
After some more information about how to save the environment and the closing remarks, the conference was brought to an end. Samuel and I both thought it was a good day with some very important issues raised. It was then a bus back to New Street and the train home before I reached the comfort of my car.
Just how much am I doing to help our environment? Just how much are you doing?