The COP28 climate talks in Dubai have drawn a record number of participants with close to 70,000 people in attendance. Among them will soon be two pupils and a coordinator from Luxembourg City’s Robert Schuman secondary school.
Ahead of departure, RTL’s Monica Camposeo paid a visit to the lucky three to discuss this unique opportunity and observe the final preparations of the ‘LRSL_Actionteam4future’ team.
Julien, Paul, and Manon will travel to the COP2 talks next week. On Friday, the team presented the final version of their programme in the school’s headmaster’s office. The idea to apply came from the pupils themselves, as they are interested in both making their school more sustainable and raising awareness of environmental issues.
One of their goals is to bring young people’s voices to the climate conference. For that purpose, the organisation ‘Youth for Planet’ has arranged two delegations - one of which includes the Robert Schuman pupils.
Headmaster Michèle Remakel explained that ‘Youth for Planet’ financed the school’s delegation. She elaborated that, in return, the school would ensure the team promotes the event and allows other pupils to gain direct (albeit remote) insight through their peers attending the conference.
At COP28, the pupils will have similar accreditation as professional journalists, which allows them to livestream parts of the event. They will further explore the conference to find suitable interviewees, including Luxembourg’s new Environment Minister, a conversation that has already been scheduled in advance.
The pupils are well-aware of the criticism that the climate talks face. This is why the delegation remains small and why those staying in the Grand Duchy are bound to get remote access.
Julie, for instance, is also part of the LRSL_Actionteam4future team, but will have to stay behind. Nevertheless, she helped prepare questions in advance and will be responsible for coordinating events remotely.
