Climate for Life Mementos Handed Over to US President Barack Obama , UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown

CFL Petitions signed by more than 200,000 Himalayan Youth to UN Secretary General Ban Ki- Moon

On 23rd September 2009, a Climate for Life memento containing a piece of rock from Mt. Everest was delivered to US President Barack Obama on behalf of Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal as a symbol of the rapidly melting glaciers in the Himalayas in the wake of Climate Change.

At an earlier meeting between t he two Heads of State, Prime Minister of Nepal and President Obama had talked about the symbolism embedded in this memento, Mt. Everest, and Climate Change. President Obama also spoke to several other Heads of State about this unique gift as a powerful reminder of the days ahead. The mementos were created out of pieces of loose rocks brought down from the top of Mt. Everest by legendary mountaineer and CFL Ambassador Apa Sherpa during his record 19th Summit to Mt. Everest on 21st of May, 2009. It was on this occasion that he carried the Banner against Climate Change to the top of the world bringing worldwide media attention.
Because of global warming, such pebbles and rock pieces can be easily picked up from the top of Mount Everest these days. Earlier it used to remain under snow cover generally as per the mountaineers.
Another such memento was also gifted to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown at an official function.
These initiatives were part of the Prime Minister’s trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly and the High-Level Climate Change Summit. During the trip, Climate Change was one of the top agendas for the Prime Minister, who significantly highlighted the impacts of Climate Change on the Himalayas during his address to the UN General Assembly. He also handed over youth petitions against climate injustice signed by more than two hundred thousand Himalayan youth to the UN Secretary General H.E. Ban Ki-moon. These petitions were collected by Climate for Life volunteers during a massive petition drive garnering a lot of support by civil society, the corporate sector and political parties notably by the Prime Minister himself who met with the volunteers and students involved in the Petition Campaign several times.

Prime Minister to take Climate Change Message from 207,552 Nepali Youth and Sherpa Community to international leaders

It was a big victory for Climate for Life and a deserved one especially for the scores of volunteers and students who have been working tirelessly over the past months to highlight the issue of Climate Change.Rt. Honorable Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal pledged to handover the Climate for Life petition against Climate Injustice signed by 207552 youth from around Nepal when he meets UN Secretary General H.E. Ban Ki-moon during the UN Climate Change Summit to be held on 22 September 2009 in New York.
Prime Minister also committed that he would take a message on behalf of the climate vulnerable

mountain communities of Nepal in the form of a memento with a rock from Mt. Everest addressed to the UN Secretary General as well as US President Barack Obama, during his meeting with the letter in New York on 23 September.
At the function, Deepti Timilsina, a class ten student from Ideal Model School of Kathmandu submitted the petition to the Prime Minister on behalf of all the students who signed the petition. Over the last several months, hundreds of Climate for Life volunteers have been mobilized to schools around Kathmandu and outside to teach young students about the impacts of Climate Change in the Himalayas and to sign the Youth Petition. Three Nepali NGOs namely SENSE Nepal, CEN Nepal and SEN Nepal helped the campaign in reaching out to petitioning Nepali youth and collecting their support.

"If the youth rise, the nation will also rise,” said the Prime Minister commending the efforts of the students and volunteers who worked on the petition drive. He further assured of his continued support in such initiatives and said that he would definitely take up this issue in international forums.
Similarly, Climate for Life Ambassador Dawa Steven Sherpa handed over a memento containing a piece of rock from the Summit of Mt. Everest as a symbol of the Melting Himalayas in the wake of Climate Change. The rocks had been brought down from Mt. Everest by another Climate Ambassador – 19-times Everest summiteer Apa Sherpa. The Sherpa Community of Nepal is one of the most vulnerable communities from the impacts of Climate Change in Nepal and the memento is a symbol of their protest and expectations from industrialized countries to come together to sort out the problem called Climate Change.
Minister of Environment, Hon। Mr. Thakur Prasad Sharma was also present on the occasion and praised the noteworthy efforts of the youth for taking such an initiative for an urgent cause like Climate change.

Prime Minister gives blessings to Climate Change Petition Drive

31 August 2009, Kathmandu - Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal met Climate forLife petition drive volunteers and students today and encouraged them to continue with their admirable efforts to raise awareness about Climate Change. The volunteers have been working tirelessly to collect thousands of petitions from Nepali Youths to be handed over to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki–moon on the occasion of the UN Climate Change Summit in Late September. The volunteers and students met with the Prime Minister on the sidelines of 'Kathmandu to Copenhagen' A Regional Climate Change Conference hosted by the Government of Nepal.
On the occassion, the young students also presented an art work created by one of the students depicting the impacts of climate change on the Himalayas. The Prime Minister assured the kids of his support in their campaign and promised them that he will live up to the expectations of the younger generation of Nepal .

Himalayan Youth to send Climate Change Appeal to the World Leader

Kathmandu, Nepal – With the slogan “A Safe Climate is My Right”, the Climate for Life petition drive was officially launched in Kathmandu last week। Over the next two months, Campaign volunteers will be mobilized to schools nationwide to educate students about Climate Change issues and ask them to send out an appeal to world leaders to take an effective decision on this issue at Copenhagen in December.

The Youth Petition under the sub-Campaign Climate for My Life, is addressed to the UN Secretary General H।E. Ban Ki-moon by the young citizens of this world, and asserts their right to a safe Climate, which has been violated by the irresponsible behavior of their preceding generations.

In Nepal, Climate for Life along with its partner organizations Clean Energy Nepal, Small Earth Nepal and School Environment conservation education network (SENSE) Nepal – will be working with scores of volunteers in this massive petition drive aiming to collect signatures of at least two hundred thousand students from more than 35 percent of schools of Kathmandu and also around Nepal।

At a ceremony in Kathmandu, the petition drive was officially launched by six young school students of the Valley. The students read out the petition text in Nepali and English and signed the petition online, launching the signature Campaign.
The Youth petition is also available online in the Campaign website (Click here )and can be signed by anyone between 13 – 21 years of age.

Towards Greener Future

The national Eco Summit jointly organized by WWF, Environment Conservation Teacher Forum, School Environment Conservation Education Network, Nepal (SENSE-Nepal), Environment Conservation Teacher Society and Eco Club Network Nawalparasi on 22 – 23 May 2009 saw the convergence of more than 700 students and teachers from 18 districts of Nepal in Chitwan। The slogan of the summit was "Climate for my life". The students, teachers and locals rallied around Chitrasari and Sauraha chanting slogans to raise awareness on climate change, biodiversity conservation and responsibility of youth towards it, on the inaugural day of the summit.The summit was able to strengthen the eco club network across the country and paved the way for developing the eco club students as Green Youth, the future conservation partner. The summit came up with Chitwan Declaration declaring Falgun 2 (13 February) as Eco Club Day to be celebrated nationwide.

Notes: An Eco Club is an independent group of students working collectively to support the conservation of natural and cultural environment in their respective schools and communities. WWF Nepal in coordination with conservation partners initiated the formation of school based environmental clubs – Eco Clubs since 1994. Altogether 463 Eco Clubs have been formed in 22 districts of Nepal. Eco Club members carry out various curricular and extra curricular activities to enhance their knowledgeof the environment and its conservation and to raise awareness among students, teachers and youth, encouraging them to participate in the conservation of the natural and cultural environment at local and national level. First Eco Club Summit was held from 30 May to 5 June 2000 in Kathmandu with the theme ‘Make a difference-join Eco Club!’ It was participated by 2,000 students, teachers and other stakeholders. The event was a huge success in heightening awareness on the importance of environmental awareness. In 2004, Eco Club Meet was organized on the occasion of World Environment Day from 1 June to 6 June 2004 in Kathmandu. Series of activities were organized during Eco Club Meet 2004.

संरक्षण कविता [Conservation Poem]

Students meet with PM