Leehi Yona ’16 will champion stricter climate change policies at a United Nations Conference in Warsaw, Poland this week alongside 16 other delegates from SustainUS, a nonprofit advocacy group that encourages youth participation in advancing sustainable development.
Yona will give two-minute speeches in the plenary session, network with other young adults and attend side events held by organizations such as the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Program.
“I hope to take this huge issue that is the U.N., which is so full of jargon and try to simplify it in a way that people our age can better understand what their countries are or aren’t doing to represent their interests on an international scale,” Yona said.
Yona’s goal is to put pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt stricter regulations on coal-fired power plants.
Yona attended three other U.N. conferences in the past year, in Rio de Janeiro, New York City and Qatar. Her visits to Qatar and Warsaw were partially funded by various departments at the College.
Brian Mckenzie Tu’14, Difu Li Tu’14, and Harrison Kahn Tu’14 will also attend the conference.
Li said the group hopes to understand current proposed solutions to climate change, meet lead negotiators and participate in policy discussions.
The SustainUS delegation consists of State Department officials, think tank representatives, college students and high school students. SustainUS media relations coordinator Devan Hawkins said he hopes the trip will encourage students to become involved in climate change activism.
“The delegates themselves from the different countries are 30 or 40 years old at the youngest,” Hawkins said. “The opinions of youth are going to be ignored. Especially with climate change, the biggest effect will be on young people, so that’s why we think it’s so important that they are represented at these conferences.”
The annual conference involves international negotiations in which countries will attempt to agree on key aspects of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The conference is typically attended by 12,000 people representing national governments, a variety of non-governmental organizations, research organizations and the media.
Earth sciences professor Erich Osterberg, who leads student research groups to Greenland to study climate change, said there is little scientific doubt that the Earth’s temperatures will continue to increase as carbon dioxide is pumped into the atmosphere.
“What I want to see in this country is a debate that is no longer about if climate change is happening or if it’s a problem, but what climate change is going to do and how we are going to address it,” Osterberg said.
Yona said she hopes that the U.S. government will take action on climate change.
“I think the Obama administration talks a lot about climate change, but when it comes to action has failed to deliver,” Yona said.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: Nov. 12, 2013
The original version of this article overstated the extent of the College's support of Yona's travels. They partially funded her participation in the conferences in Warsaw and Qatar.
