As a member of Canada’s youth delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Meetings, Carleton University Student Arielle Kayabaga is expecting some pressure from other countries.
“Our country is a little bit slacking, but we want to be there to show that even though our politicians are slacking, we are not,” she said.
“We want to prove to the world that the future of Canada will be doing something (about climate change).”
At the meeting in Cancun, Mexico, delegations will be working toward a new international agreement on climate change to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Canada abandoned the Kyoto Protocol in 2007.
Kayabaga said she hopes the event can send a message to the government that Canada needs to take a more active role promoting climate change initiatives.
Despite still being in her teens, Kayabaga is very active politically.
She was a member of the Second Franco-Ontarian Parliament and is a member of the Young Liberals of Canada. She is also developing a foundation to help women and children in her community.
