Hello everyone, I’m Cao Shuyun, head of the Roots & Shoots group at Shanghai Normal University Middle School.
The Copenhagen summit opened on December 7. This is an incredibly special day for all Roots and Shoots people and environmentalists -– worth our attention and anticipation. Over the summer holiday I read about the Copenhagen meeting in the “Southern Weekend”, and I remember clearly the article’s title: “Everyone’s Sitting Waiting for Someone Else to Do Something”. As the environment is becoming a more sensitive issue, I copied the report for all Roots and Shoots members, and made a PowerPoint presentation about Copenhagen and the Kyoto Protocol for a Roots and Shoots meeting.
As I understand it, the meeting will identify and supervise the responsibilities of different nations, and a call from the world for an age of environmental protection and emission reductions.
The article said: “How to turn green words into action, how to stop people just sitting and waiting — this is the key to success at Copenhagen, and the direction in which Denmark is working.” Yes, I think the meeting should be an opportunity to turn reduction of greenhouse gases into strong action. Maybe we’re not important enough to discuss solutions with environmental ministers, but we can provide our own answers to the state of the global environment. We can eat less meat, eat local produce, walk or take public transport instead of cars … there are some measures we can easily take, and we should do what we can.
I am happy and curious when I think of the world’s environment ministers meeting to discuss and commit to making the world a better place. No matter what new measures are taken, at least the summit has already raised awareness of emissions reduction. We cannot rely only on green words. Copenhagen can plant the seed of a green fairy tale, letting emissions-reduction awareness take root all over the world.