Young Voices, Global Stage: 51Talk Brings Classroom Speakers to the UN Climate Summit

Brief snapshot: students speak at COP30 and why it matters

51Talk is bringing a small group of its learners to speak at the United Nations climate conference, COP30, in Dubai. The company said students from the Middle East and Southeast Asia will appear on a youth-focused session during the summit to share short, personal remarks about how climate change affects their communities. The appearance is billed as the end point of a short program of coaching and public-speaking practice, and the sessions will be available to the conference audience and to online viewers.

For the students, the moment is about being heard on a big stage. For 51Talk, it is also an opportunity to show how its online English lessons and extracurricular programs can move beyond language practice into civic and climate engagement.

What 51Talk does and how it prepared these learners

51Talk is an online education company that offers English lessons to school-age children across different countries. Its core product pairs students with teachers in live lessons, and the company often runs short-term projects and clubs that focus on debate, storytelling, or themes such as sustainability.

For the COP30 initiative, 51Talk said it ran a focused preparation program that combined English coaching with public-speaking practice and topic briefings on climate issues. Teachers worked with small groups to shape each student’s message so it would be simple, clear and rooted in their own experiences — for instance, describing local risks like hotter summers, damaged crops, or floods.

The company framed the work as skills-based: improving confidence, clarity and the ability to talk about a civic issue in plain language. It also emphasized that the project was the result of short-term mentorship rather than a formal long-term curriculum.

How the COP30 participation is organized

The students will appear on a youth panel scheduled inside the conference’s youth track. According to the announcement, the format is brief prepared remarks followed by a short, moderated conversation with other youth speakers and a facilitator. The sessions are meant to be accessible to a general audience rather than technical briefings for climate experts.

51Talk said the learners were selected from classrooms in several countries and had taken part in online practice sessions before traveling. Organizers described partnerships with youth-focused groups and local education partners to help manage logistics and ensure the children’s presence at the conference complied with safety and travel rules.

In addition to the live session in Dubai, the company indicated portions of the appearance would be shared through social channels, giving a wider audience the chance to hear the young speakers’ messages.

Young voices and personal moments

The company highlighted a few student stories to give the event a human face: children who described losing trees in their neighborhood, noticing hotter playgrounds, or worrying about water in the dry season. Those personal notes were framed as the core of the talks — short memories and clear asks, not technical demands.

51Talk’s announcement emphasized the learners’ perspective. One student, speaking about the experience of preparing for the summit, described feeling nervous but proud to tell a simple personal story so others would understand what climate change looks like in their town. Organizers said the exercise was designed to help students turn local observation into language that decision-makers and the public could follow.

Why this matters beyond the headline

There are a few ways to look at what 51Talk is doing. First, it’s a practical example of how language education can be used to amplify young voices on public issues: teaching students to speak clearly about lived climate impacts helps bridge the gap between local experience and global policy talk.

Second, it fits a wider pattern of companies using public events to show social programs in action. For 51Talk, the COP30 appearance is a public-relations and community-engagement moment: it positions the company as an educator that tries to connect classroom work with real-world debates.

Finally, from a civic perspective, the move nudges a familiar point — younger people want to be heard on climate — into a formal space where leaders and media are listening. Whether this one session changes policy is uncertain, but it does give students practice in public life and gives conference-goers a clearer sense of what climate change feels like at street level.

Sources

• prnewswire.com