All over Europe, young people are mobilising around climate change issues.  This was evident at a recent event organised by Energy Crossroads Denmark, at which around 300 European students gathered to discuss the challenges we’re facing regarding energy generation.

We were part of a team of 23 British students, sponsored by the British Council and co-ordinated by the UK Youth Climate Coalition, that attended the 3-day conference of talks, discussions and workshops.

After a 23-hour bus ride (low carbon, dontcha know) across north-western Europe, we enjoyed the final stretch of the Danish coast, lined with elegant stretches of wind turbines. An early highlight of the conference was a mass bike ride on the first day: using Copenhagen’s comfortably (and unusually, for us Brits) wide cycle lanes, several hundred cyclists crossed the centre of the city with a full police escort, to demonstrate the joys of bikes.  I hope it wasn’t undermined too much by my shrieks of fear as I hurtled along in a most unladylike fashion, on a bike far too big for me with dubious brakes!

Each day we heard from a range of energy and climate experts, including James Hansen from NASA, who has been at the forefront of climate change science for more than two decades.  Panel discussions provoked intense and engaging debate, particularly around the issue of Carbon Capture and Storage, which was raised repeatedly over the course of the 3 days. Whilst several of the energy experts seemed to factor in ‘clean coal’ as part of the solution, many students raised their hands and time and time again made the point that tackling climate change should involve a mass transition to renewables and a rejection of the myth of clean coal.

With the International Science Congress on Climate Change taking place in the same city that week, our student conference was able to pinch some eminent speakers.  However, I’d personally have liked to have seen a more diverse set of speakers – the ones we were presented with were overwhelmingly white, male and middle-aged.

Two afternoons were taken up with “The Strategy Game”, which gave lots of food for thought about the intricacies of energy policy.  However, the best part of the summit was the unstructured stuff - the coffee breaks and mealtimes when we were free to mingle and chat.  These interesting and productive discussions made the total event more than just the sum of its parts.

The UK Youth Climate Coalition is part of a vigorous and growing movement. What was most inspiring was to hear how important an experience this conference had been for the British students. Many said they now felt skilled up and empowered to go and begin their own climate change projects back in their own communities and on their own campuses.