Climate Conference

On the 11th of November, 2019, a team of Headteachers and Delegates from the Hammersmith and Fulham Sovereign Borough Council in the UK accompanied by Melanie Harwood and the Guardian Visual Features Team visited Dubai to carry the Climate Action template of GEMS Education back to the UK and the world.

This was followed by the Climate Conference held on 12th November 2019, attended by esteemed guests: Dr Abdulla Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), Mr Dino Varkey, CEO of GEMS Education, Sir Christopher Stone (Global CEO, GEMS Education), Ms Melanie Harwood (Co-Founder, Harwood Education), Mr Richard Sprenger (Guardian Visual Feature), Ms Jan Parnell (Assistant Director of Education, Hammersmith and Fulham), Ms Taranum Baig (Headteacher, Hammersmith and Fulham), Ms Sally Brooks (Headteacher, Fulham College Boys’ School) and the Senior Leadership Team from DULSCO Waste Management.

The Climate Conference hosted by GEMS Legacy School brought the idea of introducing climate literacy to all schools in the UAE with Dr Abdulla Al Karam expressing his desire that this urgency for climate literacy needed to spread throughout the region. At this one-of-a-kind conference, 202 children, trained by Mr Kevin Oliver sang the powerful Earth Song by Michael Jackson, which was mesmerizing. The conference concluded with a press conference at the close of proceedings.