Winchester Pupils Speak at COP26
Winchester pupils have been making their voices heard at COP26 in Glasgow. Two boys spoke at the conference, both as a result of their own individual activism.
Sixth Form pupil Dev Sharma (Hawkins', Year 12), who is a Young Food Ambassador for the Children’s Right2Food Campaign, was invited to be a speaker and panellist at a COP26 event entitled 'Calling all young people to be agents of change in food systems transformation'. Dev has been a Young Food Ambassador for three years, in which time he’s delivered a Charter to no. 10 Downing Street, met with a number of key influential cabinet ministers and Labour leader Keir Starmer, and won the lauded Diana Award for his food poverty activism. Dev is a Youth MP for Leicestershire and Chair of the Bite Back 2030 Youth Board.
Watch this video to see what Dev got up to at COP26.
Jona Cordonier Gehring (College, Year 11) was invited to COP26 to receive an award and make a speech, as a result of an article he wrote for a new UNESCO journal. The article, ‘The Contributions of Physics to Climate Change Response’, won a Gold Medal from the Science, Law & Sustainability Online Youth Journal, and will be published in its first issue. Jona gave the opening speech at the journal's launch event at COP26, which was an international youth roundtable on solutions to the global threat of climate change.
Taanvir Sood (College, Year 11) was inspired by a school Geography trip to write an article entitled 'The importance of the conservation of peat landscapes', also for the new UNESCO journal. Taanvir learnt about peatlands and their role in climate change during the trip to Cornwall over half term, during which pupils explored nature-based solutions to climate change. During the trip, Dr Mark Nason, Head of Eden Project Learning, gave a talk on soil science and carbon balance, which inspired Taanvir to discover more about this particular threat to our climate.
Winchester's Head of Geography, Dr Alex Clayton, said:
"The Climate and Ecological Emergency is at the centre of our curriculum. It is our duty to provide our pupils with the tools to make a difference, a way of living that is compatible with our planet, resilience, and the optimism and courage to show up in the face of the difficulties ahead. It is a welcome challenge and a privilege to have the opportunity to work with such capable pupils, who inspire us every day."
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