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WORLD MISSION AIMS TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE
JENNA DAROCZY
30 Nov, 2009 03:53 PM

Climate change wasn't always on the radar of Alexandra Hills Girl Guide leader, Nellie Mair, but she says it's "become an issue close to my heart, because guiding is close to my heart".

Nellie, 25, will take her passion for the environment and enthusiasm to learn more about making a difference to Copenhagen's Climate Change Summit in Denmark next week.

She is one of only three Australian women joining the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) to attend the conference and lobby for environmental protection.

"I really see it as a chance to understand more about our place in the world when it comes to making a difference and having a say," Nellie said.

"I've tried not to get too caught up in the politics of it all, because you have to sift through all the information the media, the greenies and all sides of politics give you to try and work out the truth.

"But I do know that climate change affects the whole world, the world is going to be inherited by our youth, and my work is about preparing the youth for the future."



A girl guide since she was 7, Nellie sits on the State Program Committee, which sets the curriculum for girl guides in Queensland, and recently introduced an 'advocacy' badge.

"I've done Clean Up Australia Day since I was a kid, but in the last two or three years we've started to do a lot more conservation focused projects, mobile phone recycling is a big one at the moment," she said.

“Girl Guides are traditionally not into letterwriting, but with more than 10 million members worldwide, we’re hoping to change that.



“Next year – 2010 – is Year of the Girl Guide, and the advocacy badge will be about the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals, as well as trying to fight for or change local causes,” she said.

The UN’s Millennium Development Goals are based on: Ending poverty and hunger, universal education, gender equality, child health, maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, environmental sustainability and building global partnerships.

The WAGGGS representatives will meet in Copenhagen on the first day of the conference to discuss their goals for the trip, before taking part in workshops, meetings, protests and networking for the rest of the trip from December 3-19.