By Tom Barton

16 Aug, 2002

Page 11

WHILE politicians are shouting to make their voices heard at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, one local teenager will be quietly campaigning for Wales to take up more green policies.

Yasmin Tariq, 18, from Conwy, is one of just three Welsh teenagers to be attending the young people's version of the Earth Summit, which will be running in parallel to the 'adult' meeting.

As part of the three-week trip the teenager will spend a day with the Assembly's First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, putting forward the environmental concerns of Welsh young people, as well as meeting the South African president, Thabo Mbeki.

Yasmin was elected by teenagers from across Wales to represent their views to the conference, which will be made up of young people from all over the world.

The trip is being organised by Machynlleth's Centre for Alternative Technology, which ran the workshops that determined who represented Wales at the conference.

'We're going to tell Rhodri Morgan that we need more efficient public transport in Wales - that it needs to be more regular and more competitive.

'It needs to encourage people to stop using their cars,' Yasmin said.

The International Baccalaureate student at Llandrillo College says that she is looking forward to the trip.

'It's the chance of a lifetime, and will give me the chance to learn about different cultures and to see what other people have, how they live, and how we can make a difference.'