New Delhi, Dec 4(ANI): Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest Jairam Ramesh on Friday said that four girl students would be part of the Indian delegation at the United Nations meet on Climate Change at Copenhagen.

The students, two each from schools and colleges would project the youth’s perspective to India’s stand at the global summit.

“These girls will go with us, stay with us for five days from 7 to 12. Many programmes have been organised for them. I hope that these girls will add to India’s voice at Copenhagen and will give a message to the world that in the sphere of environment, we give importance to the voice of the youth,” Jairam Ramesh said.

The students were selected through a national level essay competition that was organised with an objective to inculcate a sense of ecological concern and citizenship values among the youth.

The winners were Ramsha Sajid and Aadya Dube of Carmel Convent Senior Secondary School, Bhopal, Ruchika Pokhriyal of Acharya Narendra Dev College, New Delhi and Deeksha Singh of Patna Women’s College (Avila Convent), Patna.

Ruchika Pokhriyal, one of the member of the youth delegation, said: “The youth in India cannot stand inaction. We will not in any case pass the deteriorating state of conditions to younger (future) generation. We will like to work to prevent climate change because India is an agriculture based economy, dependent on changing monsoon patterns. We are widely affected by what the monsoon give us, so it is absolutely imperative for us to act.”

The meeting at Copenhagen is expected to settle a legally binding global deal after arguments between rich and poor nations about who should cut emissions, by what quantity and who should pay.

India has maintained that it will neither accept a legally binding emission cut nor a peak year of carbon emissions at the global climate talks in Copenhagen. (ANI)