KidsCall World Tour on Climate Change Closes

Press Release

KidsCall World Tour on Climate Change Draws to a Close

Bianca Jagger, Chair of the World Future Council: “It is time for the decision-makers of today to listen to the decision-makers of tomorrow”

Hamburg, Germany, 28 March 2008. The World Future Council’s KidsCall team has returned home to Hamburg from Chicago, the final stop on a worldwide tour. In several countries from India to the US via Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Japan and Australia, young people have been voicing their concerns regarding climate change. The World Future Council is committed to relaying their hopes and demands to the world’s leading politicians of the G8 when they meet in Japan in July 2008 .

Bianca Jagger, Chair of the World Future Council and patron of the KidsCall project said, “It is time for the decision-makers of today to listen to the decision-makers of tomorrow. We have betrayed future generations by failing to protect the planet. Now it is time to listen to their concerns. KidsCall gives a voice to future generations.”

KidsCall appeals to young people to confront politicians with their hopes and fears about climate chaos and environmental damage by sending in letters, photos, videos and drawings. These messages will be collected in a special P.O. Box and on the KidsCall project website. They will be handed over to G8 leaders at the G8 Summit in Japan in July 2008 by Bianca Jagger and an international group of KidsCall children.

In Japan, KidsCall met with Japan for Sustainability, the Japan G8 NGO Forum, Ecoleague and the Japan Youth G8 Summit. The message from Japan was clear: we have to act now. Kanae Nakamura from Hiroshima, Japan said: “My dream is to build a society where everyone can live in a healthy environment, so let’s co-operate all over the world and just do it!”

In India, Kritika from New Delhi was one of thousands of pupils from the Montessori school who flocked to take part in KidsCall workshops. Her main concern was the vital issue of technology transfer in combating climate change.
“All the technology in our country is very expensive. To have a water harvesting system in your house is something most people cannot imagine because it is much more than their salaries. We would really request for people who are able to do so, to make technology cheaper so that people in my country can use them and we can start saving our resources,” Kritika said.

Thousands more messages from four continents containing hopes, demands and suggestions on how to combat climate change  are arriving at the KidsCall headquarters in Hamburg, Germany.

Bianca Jagger:
“KidsCall removes any lingering doubts that children care about their future. The current generation of decision-makers has a responsibility to provide our children with the secure, sustainable future they deserve.”

Children should send their letters and illustrations to:

Kids Call
P.O. Box 11 17 11
20401 Hamburg
Germany

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