Law students will arrange conferences to promote climate action among youth
The University of Windsor has received $125,000 through the Climate Action Fund to help advance meaningful climate action in Ontario.
Through this funding, students from the university’s faculty of law will arrange two conferences seeking to educate young people and community builders on legal and policy issues involved in municipal climate action.
“Being largely law-student led means we are also helping to equip the next generation of lawyers and policymakers with the skills needed to tackle climate change,” said Anneke Smit, inaugural director of the Windsor Law Centre for Cities and associate professor at the law school.
The funding of $125,000 was announced by member of Parliament for Windsor–Tecumseh, Irek Kusmierczyk, on behalf of Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson.
Given that Windsor-Essex County has directly experienced the negative impact of climate change, Kusmierczyk expressed excitement for this investment, which would help the youth “shape the local conversation on climate action” and which would provide financing for conferences that could “spark interest in careers focused on creating positive environmental outcomes and addressing climate-change-related challenges.”
On Mar. 8, the Windsor Law Centre for Cities kicked off its free three-day workshop at the SoCA Armouries and the Capitol Theatre, as part of its Cities and Climate Action Forum. The workshop is financed partially by the Climate Action Fund.
Young people who attend will engage in educational activities promoting meaningful climate action, such as hands-on work, presentations, tours and film showings. There will also be a round-table discussion conducted by faculty members, including Windsor Law’s Patricia Galvão-Ferreira, who will be talking about career and education pathways centred on climate change.
Established by Environment and Climate Change Canada in August 2018, the Climate Action Fund sets aside up to $3 million per year to promote climate action initiatives led by schools, businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Wilkinson said that the government aspires to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
