Philippines youth views: what would you tell world leaders at COP21 about climate change?

1 First close your eyes. Remember a time in your childhood.  The time when there was so much joy found in basking under the sun on the beach, playing naked in the rain,  hanging from a tree, or feeling the morning dew of the grass on your bare feet. Please do everything in your power to stop global warming and protect the world.  Give the children of the future an opportunity to experience these simple joys found in a clean and safe Earth.

2 Being young is not an excuse for me to stop to global warming.   Instead of turning on the air conditioner to cool down, I go outdoors and enjoy the wind.  I am conscious with my water consumption; I only use what I need. I also take care of our plants and value our trees.  

1 I want to request that you try implementing Meatless Mondays in schools wherein each student will not consume meat for one day in a week. You can conserve water this way.  I read somewhere that it takes 12,000 liters of water just to produce a kilogram of beef compared to 850 liters of water to produce a kilogram of wheat. 

2 I try to be a pescatarian. It means I avoid eating beef, chicken and pork. Instead, I eat more vegetables and fish. I conserve electricity by unplugging the appliance when not in use. I discourage people from smoking because the cigarette smoke will cause air pollution.

1 Our Earth is beautiful. I would like to enjoy it for a long time.   I also would like for future children to enjoy the beauty and richness of the Earth. I hope you will be able to put a stop to global warming by being able to encourage other nations to invest on renewable sources of energy.  Energy that can be drawn from the sun, wind, water and even from the heat underneath the earth.

2 I save energy by turning off the lights and other electrical appliances when not in use. I frequently unplug electrical power when using battery-charged devices such as laptops and cellphones. 

1 We think you are already doing a good job.  Please keep an open mind to the ideas of other people, however small or crazy they might seem on how to reduce global warming.  I hope you will most especially consider ideas from especially because we will be inheriting the Earth. 

2 My family and I walk instead of taking the car, if our destination is just nearby (plus you get exercise).   We make use of cloth bags to do away with plastic bags when we go shopping.  We plant the seeds from the vegetables we cook in the house because there's a tree in every seed. We have a compost pit at the back of our house so we not only reduce the garbage we accumulate, we also help keep the environment healthy. We like to draw.  We ask our parents for old calendars or notebooks so we can draw and write on the empty spaces.

1 Hello, I hope that you recognize and encourage businessmen, fellow inventors, and manufacturers to produce more solar panels to replace oil for electricity. Please urge the people of your nation to reduce, reuse and recycle. Please ban the use of plastic bags, Styrofoam, and products containing CFCs. I wish to address the delegate of our country to encourage regulate the number of cars allowed per family to minimize air pollution. Thank you!

2 I conserve electricity. If I have homework, I do it at daytime instead of turning the lights on at night. My family and I also join Earth Hour.

1 The thought that the Earth we live in may not be suitable for human beings scares me. I this summit encourage awareness to global warming.  Leaders, please encourage people to stop littering the streets and waterways, walk more to decrease fossil use.  Promote electric vehicles for transport. If we take better care of Earth, She will take better care of us. 

2 I am homeschooled. I don't need a school bus or car to go to school. I save on electricity by using natural light. I use the electric fan. I recycle paper bags by using them for playing, arts and crafts and science experiments. I also use both sides of the bond paper for my illustrations.  I always bring water in a jug whenever our family goes out. Buying bottled water is expensive and the bottle clogs our waterways during floods.

1 A small number of countries have experienced that catastrophic effect of Climate Change, Philippines being one of them.  You should understand that disasters will one day hit any country at random. Leaders around the world should seriously consider putting significant resources to reduce global warming.

2 In school, I do my best to recycle old materials to use for new projects. I also bring my own eating utensils to avoid using plastic ones. 

2 In my house, there’s a trash can with two compartments where you can throw either paper or plastic, which is where we throw our trash, then we bring it downstairs where it’s segregated into different bins. I also try to use as little power in my house as possible, like using the air con when there are a lot of people in the room and turning on the lights when we absolutely need it.

1 Engage the you to help and become part of the action and solution.  Listen to our suggestions. We are done with hoping and dreaming. It is now time to act. 

2 Our family conduct carpooling in our neighborhood on weekdays.  It allows us to get to know more people and gain new friends. Aside from that, I join an annual tree planting event in our province that encourages young people like me to plant trees in a barren patch of land in the San Roque Dam. Furthermore, our school conducts a project known as Wrappers to Pavers in which we collect wrappers of our favorite snacks or household items and these will be sent to the local factories to be converted into cement blocks which will be used for the construction of some facilities in our school. 

1 J. K. Rowling said that “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” From this, we can all agree that unity of people is the answer to infinite problems.  However, there are countless people who continue to neglect and find the concept of climate change inconsequential.  How do you plan to open the minds of these people? 

2 I let my voice be heard. I influence others to also take care of the Earth.