Children of the revolution

Two young people from County Cavan will be among the delegates to the first ever Youth Assembly on Climate at Dáil Eireann today (Friday). Yasmin Peeters and Conor Gannon have been selected to represent their peers at the Assembly as concern over climate change and green issues intensifies on a global scale. Reporter Thomas Lyons caught up with them ahead of their big day...

“Climate change is a big problem no matter what way you put it. There will be food shortages, extinctions and pure chaos if we don’t do anything about this...”
This is the opening statement on the landing page of a Cavan environmental website aimed at raising public awareness about the importance of taking action against the number one threat to mankind’s viability.
“Polar bears,” Yasmin Peeters explains the spark that ignited her interest in what we are doing to our planet. It is followed by a small giggle, and for the first time in the conversation she comes across as a 12 year old.
Prior to the giggle the gravity of the topic and her attitude to it suggested a maturity well beyond her years. The action she had 
taken on the matter also belies her age.
“I created the website seeNdoo.com first it was to raise awareness of issues like climate change, now it’s the global platform for the seeNdoo organisation,” she explained early in the conversation, “SeeNdo is a community group in Cavan for tackling climate change. So far I have done presentations and workshop in school. I am hoping 
to get more people in Cavan involved.”
The daughter of Berni and Daniel Peeters, Yasmin is talking to the Celt because she is one of 157 delegates for the RTÉ Youth Assembly on Climate. The delegates represent all 26 counties and range in age from 10 to 17 years. On Friday, November 15, they will convene the first ever Youth Assembly on Climate at Dáil Éireann to discuss and determine their proposals on Ireland’s Climate Action.
The Cavan delegate is one of the young participants in the Youth Assembly examining the next steps for Ireland on climate action. A brief chat with Yasmin shows she is a good choice.

Research
The delegate is researching climate change and economy and will submit a proposal to the Youth Assembly this week: “I will be representing Cavan along with Conor Gannon. We will put forward our proposals and then debate them. My proposal is for all newly leased council houses to be upgraded to a building energy rating of B. So basically to reduce the residential greenhouse gas emissions. I am also hoping it will create jobs and improve the quality of life for the people who live in the council houses.
“I met with the manager of a Kingspan factory. He had a degree in sustainability, so in taking to him I came up with that as an ideal,” she tells of the origin of her presentation. SeeNdo came about with a little parental assistance: “I came up with the website. To make it better my dad helped me with the coding,” she explains before going into where her environmental consciousness stemmed from. “I always liked polar bears. I was doing some research on them and I came across a picture of a starving polar bear. I was horrified by that. I clicked on it an there was an article attached. That’s when I first discovered about climate change.”

Raising awareness
Since then, she has been busy bringing the crisis to the attention of the public: “I just want to prevent the suffering of others - people and animals. Climate is very important. There are people suffering as a result of climate change who are not responsible for that change. I’m angry about that and that drives me,” the committed environmental activist says. 

Local event
If you would like to find out more about the efforts Yasmin is making on the environmental front you can log on to seeNdoo.com or see her in person when she makes a presentation at the Cavan Public Participation Network environment event in the Cavan Crystal Hotel on November 23.

Setting the agenda
The other Cavan participant in this week's RTÉ Youth Assembly on Climate is Conor Gannon from Ballytrust, Ballinagh. The 16 year old is a fifth year student in St Patrick's College Cavan.

Conor says he got involved in the Youth Assembly On Climate because of worries about the apparent lack of meaningful action being taken to prevent climate disaster and about how this will impact our future.

Conor impressed the assessors and the final judging panel to be selected from almost 1,000 applicants. He is one of the young delegates who have driven climate to the top of the national and international agenda. The Youth Assembly will be chaired by Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghail. The delegates will work in groups under five themes to devise a Youth Assembly Proclamation on Climate: Economics, Education, Environment, Food & Farming, and Power.
In order to make it available to all young people, the Dáil proceedings will be broadcast live from Leinster House on RTÉ 2 and on News Now on the day. There will also be an online endorsement opportunity where students and members of the public can register their support for the Youth Assembly’s Proclamation on rte.ie/youthassembly from 2.30pm on the day. 
The greater the numbers of supporters the Youth Assembly’s Proclamation has, the more power it will hold.