THE Guyana Chapter of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN)  is asking Guyanese to  contribute to worldwide views on  global climate and energy policies and actions. It is hoped that these policies and actions will influence  the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC /COP21) to be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, 2015.
The COP 21  will aim at achieving a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C.
World Wide Views on Climate and Energy is a  citizen- participation project on global Climate and Energy policies and actions intended to glean unique information about how far citizens around the world are willing to go, in order to deal with climate change and to bring forward an energy transition.
The context of the CYEN Guyana invitation  is that on Saturday, June 6,  thousands of citizens around the world will take part in the  transnational event: “World Wide Views on Climate and Energy”, initiated by the   UNFCCC Secretariat.
Other international collaborators in the June 6  global  event are the French National Commission for Public Debate, the Danish Board of Technology Foundation,  Missions Publiques, and the  French Government.
And,  the CYEN says, Guyanese must not be left out.
Spokesperson for the CYEN Guyana Chapter Onika Stellingburg, said that in keeping with its mandate and interests  it has organised  a forum at the Guyana Red Cross Society Building in Georgetown also on Saturday to enable Guyanese to contribute to the worldwide dialogue.
The CYEN programme is being done with assistance from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The forum, Stellingburg said, sets an example on  how to increase the legitimacy and transparency of global governance, by offering ordinary citizens an opportunity for participating in the decision-making process .
Over  100 Guyanese are expected  to gather  for the day-long consultation.
All participants will receive information about the pros and cons and views on different climate and energy policies, targets and measures.
Participants are expected to  express their views on an identical set of questions, designed to reflect policy controversies at the COP negotiations and political discussions about climate and energy in general.
The results of the discussions  will be published in real-time via a web-tool, allowing for easy exploration and comparisons of results, one country with another, developed countries with developing.
The results will   raise public awareness about challenges and opportunities existing in relation to climate and energy.
This information gleaned is expected to be  used actively by politicians in the public debate, the media, and the COP21 negotiations, Stellingburg disclosed.