The first European Declaration of the Rights for the Planet and the living write by children

Initiated by le Lobby de Poissy and supported by France tv

They are 310, between 10 and 17 years old from ten European countries. Accompanied by their teachers, they joined the project initiated by Le Lobby de Poissy, a group of 15 children constituted as a junior association since October 2018. On the side of Hubert Reeves, their sponsor, and Nicolas Hulot, honorary member, they wrote "the European Declaration of the Rights for the Planet and the Life". This commitment is leading them this Wednesday 27 November 2019 in front of the European Parliament.

Obvious words, simple and powerful. First conceived by an elementary school, then carried through middle school in Europe and enriched by meetings with professors, lawyers, of the activists... Those words form today the text of European Declaration of the Rights for the Planet and the Life. Those 18 articles have been reviewed by Yann Aguila, lawyer to the court and co-editor of the Covenant for the environment. On November 27, invited by Karima Delli, MEP and President of the Commission Transport, a delegation of a sixty children will bring the declaration in Strasbourg where it will be read and presented by the President of the Parliament in the context of a press conference.

At the origin of this event, a green class project in Poissy in 2017 and a relentless commitment of 15 students to act and protect for the planet. For almost two years, it's the journalist Elsa Da Costa- Grangier who puts herself to serve the action of these children. She has first launched the documentary series

The Poissy Lobby, where the children are committed to the spread of the planet then on France tv education (now Lumni), before becoming declaration coordinator for the European Declaration of the Rights for the Planet and the Life. Amel Cogard, Director of Services digital, youth and education, emphasizes: "We are proud to support children's engagement for the planet since 2018 on the education’s platform of France tv and The Lobby of Poissy is an educational initiative which has been born in the heart of a class and a city..."

This citizen approach has also involved the European Commission, which has supported the project in a way that to convert this French initiative unprecedented in European adventure. For Baudouin Baudru, Head of the Representation of the European Commission in France:

"It is natural that the Commission is associated with this initiative because it is a true example of what Europe must be: the meeting of Europeans from several countries who think together about solutions to build a future better". Director of touteleurope.eu, a pedagogical information website on the European issues, Christophe Préault says: "We are proud to to participate in this beautiful adventure, which naturally prolongs our mission of education and pedagogy on Europe, in particular with the younger ones. They're giving us and send a message of optimism through this collective work: to create of the link, encourage collaboration, share ideas and chart the course”.

The Poissy Lobby, what is it?

As part of a green class, Anaïs Willocq, teacher at Montaigne’s school, raises awareness among its fifth-grade students of the threats facing them on the planet. So that they can grasp also the major challenges of democracy which it registers them in the Children's Parliament.

Like a traditional lobbies, they create their "positive" lobby. The adventure of the Lobby of Poissy starts with: educational project, actions with the town hall, meetings of deputies in the National Assembly, demonstrations, meetings with experts, personalities – Hubert Reeves, François Hollande, Nicolas Hulot who agrees to sponsor them and commits them to write the rights for the planet and the living. Supported by the European Commission, touteleurope.eu, France tv and Elsa Da Costa-Grangier are then an incredible collaborative project that are being set up between the European children, supervised by their teachers.

"It is a unique approach and without which places the school at the heart of citizenship. I'm proud to have it coordinated. Who knows, she'll be on the list, perhaps in history books » summarizes Elsa Da Costa-Grangier.

A commitment that has been echoed by at the United Nations in July 2019 at the Forum on sustainable development with the presentation of the Poissy Lobby and the draft bill of rights of the planet and living things.

The declaration in figures:

- Nearly 310 students assisted by 27 teachers worked on this text

- 74 people present in Strasbourg on 27 November

- 9 months of work and coordination

The theme’s distribution by country:

Finland: Food and pollution
Sweden: Agriculture and energy
Portugal: Pollution of the oceans
Italy: Food and 0 waste
Croatia: Light pollution and biodiversity
Poland: Fossil energy and forestry
Spain: Plastic pollution and waste
Germany: Energy, waste and food
France (Metropolitan France, French Guiana and Reunion Island): First peoples and the impact of technology
French Polynesia: Protection of the oceans

The schedule for Wednesday 27 November 2019 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg

11.30: invitation to the Louise-Weiss building
12.00-13.00: Diplomatic forum in the Hemicycle
12.30-12.45: Address by the President of the European Parliament
13.30-15.00: conference and discussion on the proceedings of the European Parliament
15.00-15.30: Press conference and reading of the declaration European Convention on the Rights of the Planet by Children
15.30-16.00: exchanges with journalists

Link to the press release announcement of the launch project, its genesis children to the threats facing on the planet. So that they can grasp also the major challenges of democracy who it registers them in the Children's Parliament