Our work in climate change was put under the spotlight when one of our inspirational young Climate Champions was shortlisted for the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize.

Rishika Das Roy, Indian Climate Champion, is one of the five candidates selected to win the award, with her nomination receiving personal endorsement from no less than Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General.

The International Children’s Peace Prize is an initiative of the KidsRights Foundation and has the support of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

Rishika, 17, was picked from a short-list of 45 nominations following her campaign work for the environment, which reached news heights when she became a Climate Champion.

Earlier this year Rishika and four fellow Climate Champions attended the Global Humanitarian Summit in Geneva. Rishika captured the attention of world leaders and business heads present when she spoke about the situation in her native area, the Sunderbans – the largest stretch of mangrove forest in the world between India and Bangladesh, and where a large percentage of the area is suffering from recurrent floods, causing the water resources to become saline and fishing to decline. ‘Seven hundred thousand people will become environmental refugees’, she said, and then proposed a method with which at least some of the excessive sea-water can be absorbed. Mangrove trees will hold the soil together and their roots will absorb sea-water. Rishika started a project called ‘Adopt a mangrove tree’. 'How many mangrove trees can this conference give me?', she asked.

As a passionate environment campaigner, Rishika has championed many projects at home in Kolkata. At school she has supported tree-planting ceremonies, nature clubs and campaigns, including ‘Batti Bandh’ (Lights Off).

The Climate Champions programme was set up by the British Council in each of the G8+5 countries (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the USA) to provide a platform for young people aged 12-18, local partners and leaders around the world to build a shared consensus around action on climate change.

The 2008 Children’s Peace Prize Ceremony will be held on the 4 December in the Ridderzaal in The Hague. The Guest of honour is Desmond Tutu.