Students On Ice News




SOI 2005 Arctic Expedition participants have been asked to carry the WORLD HARMONY PEACE TORCH from Iceland to Greenland to Canada!

The World Harmony Run is a global relay that seeks to promote international friendship and understanding.

As a symbol of harmony, runners carry a flaming torch, passing it from hand to hand between members of thousands of local communities, traveling through over 70 nations around the globe.

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Students on Ice director Geoff Green, voted one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40™

At the 10th annual gala awards ceremony in Toronto it was announced today that Geoff Green, director of Students on Ice Expeditions, has been voted one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40TM .

Canada's Top 40 Under 40TM is a national award to celebrate our leaders of today and tomorrow, and to honour Canada's best and brightest who have reached a significant level of success but have not yet reached the age of 40. The program is designed to promote mentorship and professional development by introducing these leaders to the established business community and by promoting them as role models for young Canadians.

The honorees were selected by a panel of business and community leaders assembled by The Caldwell Partners, the first and largest executive search firm in Canada. The panel rated the nominees on five criteria: vision and leadership, innovation and achievement, impact, community involvement and contribution, growth and development strategy.

Mr. Green, an expedition leader and adventurer, is the founder and director of the award-winning program Students on Ice, which takes students, teacher and scientists on educational expeditions to the Arctic and the Antarctic. The mission of the pioneering program is to provide life-changing experiences for youth at the ends of the earth, and in doing so, foster in them a greater understanding and respect for our planet.

Thirty-eight year old Mr. Green said, "I am honoured and humbled by this award and want to share it with the many special people and partner organizations that have provided their invaluable support, teamwork, and guidance over the years." He added, "The award is a reflection of the need and importance to inspire and motivate youth to become present and future leaders and stewards of the planet; to empower their voice as a vehicle for change; and to create a needed paradigm shift in our environmental ethos."

A veteran of over 75 expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arctic, as well as dozens of other expeditions around the planet, Green was recognized as one of the top six Canadian explorers to watch out for in 2004 by Outpost Magazine.
In July 2005, Green has planned one of his biggest undertakings yet, a ship-based Students on Ice expedition from Iceland to Greenland to Nunavut. The unprecedented educational journey will involve seventy-five students from around the world, together with a team of world-class scientists, environmentalists and educators, including Justin Trudeau and Sheila Watt-Cloutier, who last week was named a "Champion of the Earth" by the United Nations. There is still the opportunity for interested students to join the expedition.

Green believes the project will serve as a powerful and unique platform to create change, inspire, educate, and raise awareness globally about the impacts of Climate Change and other critical issues threatening our environment, such as those outlined in the recently released Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.

"There is a growing disconnect between our modern society and the natural world, which is allowing us to sleep walk into the future", says Green. Ever the optimist, he does believe there is cause for hope, but passionately states, "its time to stop pushing the snooze button on the planet's alarm clock".

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INUIT CIRCUMPOLAR CONFERENCE
Canadian Inuit leader Sheila Watt-Cloutier, wins UNEP's Champions of the Earth Award

Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), yesterday announced that Sheila Watt-Cloutier, elected Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), was one of seven "Champions of the Earth." Ms. Watt-Cloutier will receive this award at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on April 19.

Additional recipients include:

*King Jigme Singye Wangchuk and the people of Bhutan;
*Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates (posthumously);
*President Thabo Mbeki and the people of South Africa;
*His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew;
*Julia Carabias Lillo, former environment minister of Mexico; and
*Zhou Qiang and the All-China Youth Federation.

Mr. Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, said: "In this inaugural year of the award, UNEP is honoured to recognize the achievements of seven individuals who have, to a large extent, set the environmental agenda and laid the foundations for the many areas of progress we are able to see and celebrate today."

Ms. Watt-Cloutier is to receive the award for her contributions in addressing global climate change and her successful efforts to persuade the world to conclude a global convention to eliminate persistent organic pollutants (POPs) many of which pose a particular threat to Inuit and Arctic ecosystems.

Ms. Watt-Cloutier said: " I am honoured and humbled by this award which is for Inuit everywhere. This award strengthens our determination, as Inuit, to find our rightful place in the rapidly changing world and to contribute our knowledge and wisdom to make the world a better place." She added: "The Champions of the Earth award reflects the fact that the Arctic-our homeland-is the world's barometer of climate change. Inuit are the mercury in that barometer."

In November and December 2005, Canada is hosting a Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN climate change convention. Up to 10,000 people from more than 180 countries are expected to attend.

Ms. Watt-Cloutier said: "Canada should use the COP to bring together Inuit and all Arctic residents and vulnerable peoples in the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and low-lying areas. Canada has a unique opportunity to help regions particularly vulnerable to climate change to speak loudly and clearly to the world." She urged Minister Stéphane Dion, Canada's Minister of the Environment who will chair the COP, and Minister Pierre Pettigrew who is likely to lead Canada's delegation to the COP, to grasp this opportunity.