Thursday saw members of the Balcarras Eco club attend a mock climate conference at Cheltenham Council Chambers. This event was put on by the charity InterClimate network. There were a number of schools from across Cheltenham attending the event, each representing different countries.

We were given the task of representing two separate countries; Barbados and UAE. The first part of the day saw the pupils giving a speech on how each country is effected by climate change, and their position on meeting the Cop 19 goals of keeping global warming limited to 1.5C. There was then a chance to ask other countries questions on what they are doing about the climate crisis. USA lit up the debate with an aggressive stance on the global debate.

The next section saw each group look at smaller areas for collaboration. In terms of Oceans, Cities, Energy, Forests and Food. This had a more collaborative air with all schools agreeing the targets proposed.

After lunch there was a local marketplace event with pupils getting to talk with local charities and organisations working in sustainability, such as Cheltenham Parks, Think Travel charity, Net Zero charity, Carbon cutting charity.

There was then a final panel Q and A session with various experts; Cheltenham Borough 
Council, Cabinet member for the Climate Emergency, Cheltenham Borough 
Council, Cabinet member for the Climate Emergency, Gloucestershire County 
Council, Cabinet Member for Nature, Climate & Waste Reduction, Vision 21/Planet Cheltenham, and a Geography professor from Gloucestershire university.

Overall the pupils got to experience how hard it is to come up with a consensus of opinion at a global conference, as well as to look at the latest science behind the decisions. Plus meet people whose jobs are around sustainability in the local area.