US Youth Delegation to Attend UN Climate Negotiations in Poznan

For Immediate Release
November 24, 2008

Contact:
Brianna CayoCotter, Energy Action Coalition Communications Director
Brianna [at] energyaction.net, (415) 575-5536
Kendra Kallevig, SustainUS Climate Program Coordinator
kendra.kallevig [at] sustainus.org, (406) 480-2770

US Youth Delegation to Attend UN Climate Negotiations in Poznan

American youth leaders headed to Poland to urge the US government and world leaders to embrace strong climate treaty

Washington, DC- For the first two weeks of December, over twenty U.S. youth delegates will be at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) conference in Poznan, Poland. These youth leaders will be in Poland to demonstrate American popular support for the US and world leaders to adopt a bold, binding, and just climate treaty with science-based targets. The negotiations will lay the framework and provide a work plan towards a post-2012 climate agreement to be completed by negotiations in Copenhagen, Denmark, December 2009.

At the negotiations, the US youth delegates will be working with government delegates, fellow civil society members, and other youth to promote youth-friendly and future-focused policies related to sustainable development and climate change. They will present policy proposals, lobby US State Department representatives, and hopefully speak with members of President-elect Obama's transition team. In addition, they will be working with the other international youth delegations to do colorful actions, demonstrations and street theater outside the conference. Current plans include setting up a temporary "Climate Refugee Camp" and presenting daily Fossil of the Day awards to those most responsible for blocking progress.

"Fresh off the heels of the 2008 US election, where young Americans ushered in a new era of American politics, we are headed to Poznan to carry our demands that the U.S. re-engage with the world through bold climate action," said Amanda Fencl, Communications Coordinator of SustainUS. "The youth delegations from around the world will be working together to demand that the United States and other world leaders recognize the calls for change and act accordingly to prevent an absolutely catastrophic climate crisis that places the prosperity of the younger generation in jeopardy." A powerful, organized international youth presence at the UN climate negotiations began in full force in Montreal ('05) and has continued to grow in Nairobi ('06), Bali ('07), and now in Poland. The delegation is being organized by SustainUS and the Energy Action Coalition to facilitate youth involvement in international policy-making and advocate for a sustainable future. The students were invited to join this delegation after a highly competitive, national selection process. The delegation draws from outstanding young leaders, including a Truman Scholar, a Watson Fellow, a Yale Law student, and a Fulbright Fellow.

"SustainUS represents the hundreds of thousands of young voters who voted for re-engagement in international climate negotiations this election, said Ben Wessel, SustainUS delegate and Middlebury College student. "We want the world to know that people in the United States are ready to take action on climate change, ready to transform the way we think about energy and the environment and build a new green economy."

For live blogging and video updates from Poznan visit www.itsgettinginhere.org.

For more information visit www.sustainus.org. To speak with a delegate, please contact Kendra Kallevig at (406) 480-2770 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SustainUS is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization or young people advancing sustainable development and youth empowerment at the policy-making and grassroots levels. SustainUS was founded in 2001 to prepare US youth for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

The youth-led Energy Action Coalition unites 49 organizations in the US and Canada to work for clean, just energy and bold climate policy at the local, national, and international level. Energy Action Coalition's major projects are the Campus Climate Challenge, Power Shift, and Power Vote. 