Islington's schools hold their own Copenhagen Conference (Islington Liberal Democrats)

Islington Liberal Democrats <Islington_ld@cix.co.uk>

Islington's schools hold their own Copenhagen Conference

December 18, 2009 5:41 PM

As world leaders gather in Copenhagen for the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Islington's primary schools held their own parallel climate change conference here in London.

Pupils from the aptly-named Copenhagen Primary School were joined by six other primary schools, each representing a different country. The children learned about the effects of Climate Change on countries like China, India, Indonesia, and Niger.

Councillor Greg Foxsmith, Islington's Lib Dem environment chief, helped organise the Islington children's conference. He commented:

"Islington pupils showed how seriously they take environmental issues, and were a shining example of working together that we could all learn from.

"Adults have left a bad inheritance for our young people. They are the ones who will be paying off our environmental debt."

Islington's Liberal Democrat council has signed up to the 10:10 campaign to cut the council's emissions by 10% in 2010 and the Friends of the Earth goal to cut carbon emissions by 40% by 2020.

To achieve those ambitious targets, Islington's Liberal Democrat council has:

set up a a £4 million Climate Change Fund to pay for sustainable energy projects at Islington's homes and community buildings, including wind and solar energy installations at community centres, schools and churches.
set up the Islington Climate Change Partnership bringing together over 155 local organisations committed to slashing their energy use and carbon emissions.
Introduced of an award-winning Carbon Management Programme for Islington in association with the Carbon Trust, which includes a wide range of energy efficiency measures implemented across schools and housing.
Set up an ambitious programme to help residents save energy by investing in insulation, and providing free energy advice

Islington was awarded a prestigious 'Green Flag' by the Government's most recent inspection of local authorities for our work on Climate Change. This means that the inspectors agreed that Islington's performance and innovation sets an example that others can learn from. The inspection report also describes Islington as a shining example of how the national target to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050 can be reached.