Eco Leaders Meet with Nigel Zhang - Climate Change Auditor

 

Today the Year 5 Eco Leaders were lucky enough to meet with Nigel Zhang a climate change expert who has worked for the UN as an auditor. We're hoping he can work with Sunnyhills School to reduce our carbon footprint in 2021.

This is a summarized transcript of our Zoom meeting:

Isla - Hi we’re year five Eco Leaders from Sunnyhills School. Our school is a GreenGold Enviro school

Izzy- Thank you for meeting with us today and helping us .

Izzy - we’ve got some questions we’re hoping you can answer

Drake - What inspired you to be an environmentalist?

I started by becoming an engineer in China and then I worked for the UN.  I realised we have the technology to address climate change but need to educate people.  I studied Environmental Management at University in Australia to try and address the problem from a different perspective.

Jade - what is a carbon footprint? And what do you do to reduce your carbon footprint?

A carbon footprint is all the emissions your life produces.  There are 6 main greenhouse gases.

Jade - how do we work out a carbon footprint at school?

That’s a big question.  We can identify where you produce carbon.  For example the school’s electricity bills & amount of waste you produce.

Drake - we’re planning to plant more trees.  What are some other things we could do?

• Reduce electricity use

• Reduce waste

• Walk to school

• Solar panels

• Look at heating options

Jade - what is your carbon footprint?

My own carbon footprint is 5.4 T.  The NZ average is 7.3 T.  The Australian average is 15 T

Izzy - would you like to come and visit our school next year? 

Yes, very much so, we can calculate the school’s carbon footprint and then look at ways to reduce it.

Isla and Izzy- thank you for being with us  - we learnt lots and are looking forward to continuing next year!