On the 30th September 2014, Free Word, in association with the UK Youth Climate Coalition, presented a discussion about who you can trust to provide you with the information you need to understand the impact human actions are having upon our environment.
About the debate:
Our world is changing. The air we breathe, the water that sustains us, our ice sheets and glaciers, the planet’s plants and animals: every aspect of our environment is being degraded.
As our climate begins to change, this generation of young people will inherit one of the greatest challenges mankind has ever faced.
Presented with a blizzard of information from scientists, corporations, governments and activists, how are they to know who to trust and how can the coming generations, whose decisions will be so crucial, be sure of the environmental information they receive?
Full-length recording of the debate:
Participants:
Speakers:
Claudia Delpero is a journalist and PR consultant, Claudia has spent the last decade implementing communications strategies for non-profit organisations in Europe, China and Africa. Prior to this, she worked as a press officer for the European Parliament and as a freelance journalist in her home country, Italy. She now specialises in writing about energy and development issues and the environment.
Esha Marwaha is a 17-year-old student and activist from West London. In 2013, at the age of 15, she started a petition calling for Michael Gove to abandon his plans to drop climate change from the geography curriculum. With over 30,000 signatures and worldwide coverage, the Secretary of State was forced to abandon his plans and climate change was kept in. Esha has continued speaking and campaigning on climate change with UK Youth Climate Coalition, most recently speaking alongside Emma Thompson and Vivien Westwood at the People’s Climate March in London.
Tamsin Cooper is a strategy director for Green Alliance, a charity and independent think tank, focused on creating ambitious leadership on environmental issues. Prior to joining Green Alliance in 2010, Tamsin worked with the Institute for European Environment Policy and did a three year post-doctoral degree in the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London.
Tony Birch is an Australian author, who is currently working in the UK as part of Free Word’s project on climate change, Weather Stations. Tony Birch was born in inner-city Melbourne to a large family of Aboriginal, West Indian and Irish descent. Two of Birch’s novels, Shadowboxing and Father’s Day, are taught in Australian secondary schools. Birch is also the author of Blood, shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award in 2012.
Moderation:
Tiernan Douieb is a comedian, raconteur and social commentator. Tiernan hosts the Comedy Club 4 Kids and has also recently featured in Channel 4’s comedy series Fresh Meat.
