ROME, 9 July 2009 - We, the 54 participants of the Junior 8 Summit 2009 from Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, have come together in Rome, Italy, to propose immediate action from our leaders. We invite them to listen to the young people and take our proposals seriously. 

As young people, we are the leaders of the future, and therefore will be the most affected by your decisions made today.  We believe that collaboration between adults and young people is the best way to grant a better future for the upcoming generation. The young people of today will follow up on the recommendations made and will be monitoring the actions of the countries represented.  The J8 community urges the leaders to listen and act upon previous declarations as well as our own.  The following are the conclusions of the fifth Junior 8 Summit.

CLIMATE CHANGE

MITIGATION
The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is critical to the well-being of our planet. We insist that G8 leaders build upon the policies of the Kyoto Protocol and sign an improved version under the Copenhagen Agreement.  The articles should state that:

• Government funding should be made available for green technologies in both developed and developing countries;
• Policies concerning land use, land-use change, forestry and reforestation to slow down deforestation must be promoted;
• We urge G8 leaders to commit to limiting global warming to ensure the increase in temperature does not reach two degrees Celsius;
• Those countries that do not adhere to the requirements stated in the said documents within a certain period of time, should be given temporary observer rather than participant status in the next major climate change meeting, to enforce the rules stated;
• There must be a call in the Copenhagen Agreement to strengthen participation of children and young people in climate change action.
  

ADAPTATION
G8 countries must ensure universal access to safe drinking water to the 1.2 billion global citizens who do not have it. To ensure that water is shared, preserved and protected we propose the implementation of the BLUE initiative, which calls for: Bottled water reduction where access to safe drinking water exists; Legislate funds to build accessible water infrastructure in the developing world; Use water responsibly; and Educate youth on water issues so that they understand the importance of saving water.

G8 leaders should address the issue of black carbon (black soot), which accounts for approximately 17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and is emitted through biomass cooking stoves mainly in developing nations.

TECHNOLOGY
To combat climate change, G8 leaders should promote international cooperation for green initiatives, such as the creation of a Green Olympics. The Green Olympics will allow for the introduction of newly developed products from both amateur and professional scientists worldwide. These products will be sold on a “Green Marketplace”.

FINANCING
We call on the G8 leaders to establish an international financing mechanism for energy conservation and the implementation of renewable energy resources.