On December 10, Simon Fraser University will participate in a mass dialogue enabling youth delegates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland to talk with youth around the province and inspire them to take action.

Amber Church, an SFU graduate student studying glacier retreat and natural hazards in the Yukon, has spearheaded the project with Matthew Carroll, Candice Bomfield, and Jennifer Sunday. 

Like Church, Carroll is a climate-action facilitator for the B.C. Ministry of Environment. Bonfield is SFU's coordinator of sustainability, and Sunday is a member of the climate action group with Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group.

In a phone interview with the Straight, Carroll explained that plans to organize the event at SFU began last week. He said he was happy to hear positive feedback from students on campus, as well as from several Lower Mainland high schools that have shown interest in participating.

Carroll, who has his master's degree in atmostpheric chemistry, has worked with youth from all over the world. He said he hopes that the upcoming conference will allow young people to recognize the potential for real change, "not only as leaders of tomorrow but by doing things today".

"I want them not to underestimate the difference they can make," Carroll said. "Climate change can feel overwhelming but it all comes down to us doing things and making a change in our everyday lives."

He added that this can be accomplished by working with organizations that educate people about climate change and by petitioning the government.

The conference will take place at SFU’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Mathematical and Computational Sciences and will allow youth delegates from Poland to communicate with their peers from around the world via teleconference. Carroll said he hopes people will walk away with a better understanding of climate change that will allow them to work toward making a real change in the environment.

The free event is open to the public and begins at 9 a.m. on Wednesday (December 10), and runs for 75 minutes.

Bonfield, Church, and Sunday will introduce the panel from Poland and facilitate a question-and-answer period.

"Having youth present in person, on the phone and virtually via the Internet at the conference ensures they have a voice," Church said in an SFU press release. "Mass dialoguing can mobilize youth quickly to take action around the world by writing letters to politicians, creating petitions and launching grassroots initiatives aimed at rolling back or at least slowing climate change."

The UN conference has brought together 10,000 people from more than 180 countries to develop an international response to climate change. Those who can’t make it to SFU are also able to follow the conference on-line by going here and clicking on the 5:30 p.m. session.

The University of British Columbia, the University of Northern British Columbia, and the University of Victoria are cohosting the mass dialogue. Different institutions around the globe are taking turns hosting the dialogues twice a day during the conference.

Environmentalist David Suzuki has visited several university campuses across Canada and spoken to young people about the importance of their participation in the fight against climate change.

In a commentary on Straight.com, Suzuki wrote, "I hope we are entering a new era in which the old excuses for inaction are no longer given any credence––and students become active in solving some of the serious problems in the world."