The student finalists are:
- ECO₂ – Gayathri, Trisha, Unnimaya, Elvina and Nischala from Gems Our Own English School; Dubai, UAE
- Lightning McQueens – Zosia, Hania, Maja and Matylda from American School of Warsaw; Poland
- Ecotelligent – Ammar, Grace, Ninar, Rina and Zainab from Latakia, Syria. The team attends Teens In AI
- Acquifier Guardians – Aniba, Anika, Jasreen, Naina and Sonali from Ryan International School; New Delhi, India
- Entofarm – Junhyeok, Gregory, Aiden, Dowon and Jihan, students of Phillips Exeter Academy; they are variously based in USA, South Korea and Indonesia
Teacher entries to the challenge were received from an equally diverse set of locations. The lesson plans put forward reflect a high quality of teaching about climate change and strong desire to imbue their students with a sense of purpose, in having a positive impact on the Earth’s future.
The teacher finalists are:
- Dr Frithi Francis from Cambridge High School; Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Lucas Olscamp from Pearson College UWC (United World College); Metchosin, Canada
- Michael Jones from Northfleet Technology College; Northfleet, UK
- Roudaina Kassam from Rashaya Public High School; Rashaya, Lebanon
- Laxmidevi Upadhyay from Udayachal High School; Mumbai, India
Juliane Reinecke, Professor of Management Studies, Oxford Saïd, will be a judge at the finals and is the academic lead for the specially curated climate change course the winners will be invited to attend in Oxford next summer. She said: ‘What sets this competition apart is how it empowers young people living with the harsh reality of climate-related challenges. Notably, the competition’s entries emphasize the importance of local community-driven solutions. I’m so encouraged by the quality of solutions put forward and cannot wait to meet the young people who came up with them.
The presentation of the finalists’ entries will be live streamed on Friday 1 December, and the winners’ announcement will take place at a Climate Change Symposium: Champions of Change Panel at COP28 on Saturday 2 December.
The countries from which entries were received for the Climate Change Challenge are Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, India, Armenia, Fiji, Canada, Romania, China (Including Hong Kong), Bulgaria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Senegal, Moldova, Uganda, Serbia, Italy, UAE, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Egypt, USA, Refugee Camps (Jordan), Kenya, Lebanon, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, Bangladesh, Singapore, Greece, Ecuador, Albania, Turkey, Australia, Germany, Poland, Russia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Philippines and Argentina.