"Everyone can feel the impact of global warming in China"

Twinning Schools in London and Xi'an have been hooking up for a live video conference to discuss climate change. The schools talked about how climate change had affected the UK and China and the measures they would like to see governments take to reduce global warming.

Students also had the opportunity to quiz Chinese and British government officials on what they were doing to tackle the problem.

St Ursula’s Convent School, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School and Haydon School in London linked up with Chun Lin School and Jing Yao School in Xi'an via a video link organised by Plan UK. Both sets of students were concerned about the impact global warming could have on their futures.

Droughts and flooding

A student from Chun Lin School explained that water shortages, melting Himalayan glaciers and the threat of flooding are already problems “everyone can feel the impact of global warming in China”. Another student talked about agriculture saying “in the past we had a good harvest, now it’s not so good…..climate change can cause global disasters like the drought in 2008.”

UK students had similar concerns saying “due to rising sea levels, low lying countries, including South East England, could be lost forever.” Alex and Judith from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School also told the Chinese students that pollution was a big problem in London and that the government was trying to improve the situation through measures like the congestion charge.

"A large population means more pressure on the earth"

Students at both schools had thought about solutions. Jing Yao School suggested taking public transport to reduce CO2 and using less hot water to reduce energy. Chun Lin School thought some problems were “directly linked to burning garbage, it produces methane and is harmful to our health and our air. We should reduce garbage, like heavily packaged products.”

Alfie from Haydon School talked about what his school is doing. “To make students more green, we’re planning a project called rainwater harvesting, to collect rainwater to use in school toilets.” Elizabeth Garrett Anderson students are also actively cutting down on energy, saying “We have put solar panels into some of our school buildings.”

Government responsibilities

Chinese and British students were aware of their governments’ responsibilities. Chun Lin School talked about China’s impact saying “a large population means more pressure on the earth.”

Alex and Judith from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School also talked about their efforts to pressure governments for change saying "There have been climate change protests in London, urging the government to improve the environment."

Read more about the conference in Mandarin on the BBC China website.

How did they do that?

The video link was organised by Plan-UK who helped to link schools in the UK and China.

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