Dunedin students (from left) Lindsey Horne, Letisha
Nicholas, Mike Fried, Leander Schulz and Sophie Dobson
departed from the Octagon last month to attend a youth
climate summit, which started in Auckland yesterday. Photo
by Stephen Jaquiery.
The Dunedin students who peddled from the Octagon to
Auckland were battered by bad weather on their final day of
cycling towards a climate change summit, which started
yesterday.
University of Otago student Lindsey Horne (21) said, although
they missed the brunt of the tornado in Auckland on Thursday,
they had cycled through knee-deep puddles to make the Power
Shift New Zealand-Pacific 2012 in Auckland.
The speakers at the summit yesterday included Greenpeace
spokeswoman Lucy Lawless and Kiribati resident Claire
Anterea, who talked about how rising sea levels could make
her a refugee from the atoll island, Miss Horne said.
The speakers today included journalist Naomi Klein, the
author of the New York Times bestseller No Logo.
The initial pack of Dunedin students who cycled from the
Octagon on November 16 comprised Miss Horne, Letisha Nicholas
(22), Mike Fried (22), Leander Schulz (22) and Sophie Dobson
(21), but the group expanded to a dozen riders as cyclists
joined them on their 1300km journey to the summit.
The event was being attended by more than 700 young people,
including about 40 participants from the Pacific Islands,
making it the biggest youth climate summit held in New
Zealand, Miss Horne said.
''The tornado hasn't stopped many people.''
The cyclists represented the desire of young New Zealanders
for low-carbon transport solutions in New Zealand, Miss Horne
said.
''It would be irresponsible to ignore the abundance of
opportunities to move beyond fossil fuels. Having cycled for
25 days through New Zealand's beautiful landscape, we can see
how much there is to lose if climate change isn't
addressed.''
The three-day summit finishes tomorrow.
shawn.mcavinue@odt.co.nz
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