I rise today to acknowledge the efforts of Holy Trinity High School in Torbay regarding climate change education, and my department�s commitment to help them bring this valuable message to students and teachers across the province.

This past September a student and teacher from this school embarked upon an innovative expedition to gain a better awareness of climate change in a unique setting, namely the high Arctic.  Julia Penney was chosen as the representative of the school�s student environmental group, Friends of the Gully (FOG), to represent the school and the province on the 2008 Cape Farewell Arctic Youth Expedition which travelled to Iceland, Greenland and Baffin Island. She was accompanied by Karen Channing, art specialist at Holy Trinity, and the only Canadian art teacher invited to join the expedition.

Sponsored by the British Council Canada, the United Kingdom�s international organization to promote education and cultural relations, Cape Farewell is an arts and science education program designed to raise awareness of climate change and help engage young people to become actively involved in mitigating its effects. The voyage across Arctic seas, with students from Britain, India, Brazil, Mexico, Germany and Ireland, helped these young Canadians to become climate change ambassadors at home and abroad. The youth expedition brought together high school students aged 15-17 with top scientists, artists and educators from around the world.

One of the goals of the voyage was to teach the participating students various methods of incorporating the topic of climate change into the core curriculum. They learned strategies to help their peers develop science projects in areas such as climatology, oceanography, biodiversity and biogeography. They also focused on ways to build the climate change message into genres such as film, photography, fine arts, performing arts and literature. That is why we are very pleased to provide them with funding which will assist them in their efforts to communicate the valuable knowledge that was acquired about climate change through their Cape Farewell experience.

Climate change is an extremely serious long-term issue facing our planet and it presents environmental challenges. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and introducing sustainable development principles into all aspects of society is our focus, and we all need to do our part if we are to make significant changes to positively impact our environment. Through programs such as the Cape Farewell expedition, our youth are given an opportunity to learn about climate change and its effect on our lives and livelihoods. This message is then articulated to their friends, families and communities.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone involved in this project and I look forward to our continuing efforts to help educate our youth on climate change and inspire them to take action.