Pupils from Paralimni Lyceum will take part in EU youth climate summit next year

The event will be held in Brussels in March 2020

Pupils from Paralimni Lyceum will take part in the “Your Europe, Your Say!” (YEYS) climate summit for young people from the EU. The event will be held in Brussels in March 2020.

The event is being organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and models an international climate change conference (COP). During the summit, the children will represent a sector, an industry or a group of countries and negotiate with the goal of drafting a slate of recommendations on how to deal with climate change.

According to the EESC, they are interested in hearing students’ fresh ideas on how to deal with the current climate crisis and how to come closer to meeting the 2050 climate-neutral ambitions.

The recommendations collected by the pupils will be submitted to international environment policy-makers and discussed at conferences across Europe throughout the year.

To hear their voice and concrete measures

During the YEYS, the school students will also collaborate with international youth organisations and together they will transform these recommendations into concrete proposals and measures and make their voices heard.

The “Your Europe, Your Say!” climate summit will be held on 19-20 March 2020, with the participation of pupils from a total of 33 secondary schools selected after a draw of nearly 800 educational institutions. One school was selected from every EU member state as well as one from each of the 5 candidate countries - Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. Each school will be represented by 3 pupils aged 16 to 18 who will be accompanied by one teacher.

A representative of the Committee will visit the selected schools, where he/she will present information about the EESC, its aims, its working methods and will also discuss the working document of the event.

The selected schools will receive a working document which includes numerous open questions aiming to help pupils and their teachers give shape to their ideas and prepare for the debate in Brussels. Together, they will be discussing and answering these questions in class, so as to be ready for the live discussions during the summit in Brussels.