On Wednesday, November 21st, twelve young people involved in the Youth for Sustainable Development programme enthusiastically took part in a dialogue with international climate change policy makers and experts that was held in the Irish Royal Academy.

This was a great opportunity for these young people to participate in a round table discussion with experts such as Prof Valérie Masson-Delmotte, Co-Chair of Working Group 1 for the IPCC report, Dr Pierre Marie Aubert, Co-ordinator of the European Agriculture initiative and Professor Peter Thorne, Centre Director of ICARUS at Maynooth University.

One of the main topics that were discussed at this event was the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report, which was released by the UN in October this year and which predicts increased extreme weather events, food shortages and coral die-off if we can’t contain global warming to a 1.5 degree increase by 2040.

With just 12 years left to make effective changes, coming up with real solutions for climate change is interesting challenge for Irish young people, who have already made this their mission. As  Prof. Valerie Masson-Delmotte put it “By identifying something that’s feasible you can make real environmental change happen.”.

The event was organised by the Irish Climate Change Analysis and Research Units (ICARUS) at Maynooth University in conjunction with ECO-UNESCO and the Environmental Protection Agency to encourage youth participation in environmental matters.