British Ambassador, video contest winners highlight role of women in fighting climate change

Diplomacy

Published: 08 Mar. 2024, 19:44 Updated: 11 Mar. 2024, 10:33

British Ambassador, video contest winners highlight role of women in fighting climate change

British Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks, far left, takes a selfie with winners of the International Women's Day video contest at the British Embassy in Seoul on Friday. From second left, Lynn Fukushima, Josephine Lee, Choi Jung-in and Yu So-yeon. [PARK SANG-MOON]

The climate crisis is imminent, and yet the issue has been underestimated by many, said four winners of an English video competition hosted by the British Embassy in Seoul on Friday.

Lynn Fukushima, a 17-year-old at Yongsan International School of Seoul, recalled traveling back to Japan after the pandemic, only to experience extremely sweltering weather in a span of just about four years.

“I was expecting the same weather, but when I went back, I remember the temperature rose to around 35 to 40 degrees Celsius [104 degrees Fahrenheit],” she said.

Fukushima was one of dozens of female students across Korea’s middle and high schools who participated in the International Women’s Day video competition organized by the British Embassy in Seoul and the Korea JoongAng Daily last month. International Women’s Day falls on March 8 every year.

Contestants submitted a two-minute video outlining key points they would like to address concerning climate change as if they were presenting at an international summit as ambassadors.

On Friday, Fukushima and the other three winners of the contest were invited to the British Embassy to spend a day as ambassadors. The ambassador-for-a-day program coincided with the embassy’s first Green Week, which has consisted of over 20 events on a wide range of environmental issues, including renewable energy, nuclear power, electric vehicles and biodiversity conservation, according to the diplomatic mission.

“Climate change achieving net zero [emissions] remains at the heart of U.K.-Korea cooperation, and we wanted to find a way to keep that momentum going,” British Ambassador to Korea Colin Crooks told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Friday as he spoke about the motivation to start Green Week.

"The fact that it coincides also with International Women's Day is not a coincidence because we also firmly believe that finding solutions to the problems of climate change you cannot do if you're only using half the talent at your disposal."

Andy Lamb, British defense attaché in Korea, far left, and his wife, far right, pose for a photo with the winners of the International Women's Day video competition after the award ceremony at the British Embassy in Seoul on Friday. [PARK SANG-MOON]

Fukushima and Yu So-yeon, a 17-year-old at Sodam High School in Sejong, were the two winners of the high school bracket. Choi Jung-in, a 14-year-old at Pyeongchon Middle School and Josephine Lee, a 14-year-old at Chadwick International School in Incheon, were the middle school winners.

“I think the little differences we make in our daily lives help protect the environment,” said Choi from Pyeongchon Middle School, who dreams of becoming a teacher in the future, during an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily. “It’s not only big activities like protesting or campaigning that could help stop global warming.”

Choi, who has been keen on climate issues, said she has been changing her daily routines to protect the environment, such as using buses or bicycles instead of cars.

Throughout the day, the four participated in skills workshops where they were given networking tips from female officials and leaders, including Park Eun-ha, the former Korean ambassador to the U.K. The student ambassadors also met with Helena McLeod, deputy director of the Global Green Growth Institute, and Lee Eun-ha, an ESG lead at Shinhan Bank.

Friday marked the third "ambassador for a day" program since Crooks took up his post.

“It’s been a delight to watch the videos that these young women produced, which were all very creative and thought-provoking, making people think about the dangers of climate change,” Crooks said.

“I've been very impressed by the questions they've been putting to me, about climate change and life as an ambassador and North Korea.”

Crooks, a seasoned diplomat who began his overseas career as the second secretary at the British Embassy in Seoul in 1995, earned the rare distinction of becoming the first British diplomat to consecutively head the mission in Pyongyang and then Seoul. Posted to Pyongyang from 2018 to 2021, Crooks was appointed as the British ambassador in Seoul in the summer of 2021.

“We believe that unlocking the full potential and power of girls and women accelerates progress on all our global priorities — of which there are few greater than climate change,” Crooks said in his closing remarks after a TEDx talk held at his residence, the last event that the students attended as one-day ambassadors.

The event featured prominent environment-related figures, including Choe Jae-chun, an evolutionary biologist and a professor from the College of Natural Sciences at Ewha Womans University.

“This is especially true of Korea where women — some of the most highly educated in the world — have the biggest pay disparity with men among all OECD countries," the ambassador noted.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2022, Korea had the most severe pay gap between women and men, with women getting paid 31.2 percent less than men.

Korea, Britain sign 'Downing Street Accord’ to raise ties to highest level

Earlier in the day, Britain and Korea held a clean energy dialogue where they "shared ambitions to expand renewable energy, civil nuclear power and the use of clean hydrogen, as well as mutual research, in both countries."

The dialogue on Friday complemented the signing of the Downing Street Accord by President Yoon Suk Yeol during his state visit to Britain in November, where the two countries committed to working together to deliver "a sustainable, secure and resilient future.”

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]