STUDENTS at a York school have added a young voice to a huge worldwide environmental event.

The Jo Rio Earth Summit saw Joseph Rowntree School connected to Brazil through a live link-up as leading scientists and policy-makers gathered in Rio to map out a future for sustainable development.

The York event was attended by the city’s Lord Mayor, Coun Keith Hyman, and included a samba-dancing session, African drummers and street theatre performances.

It tied in with the Rio+20 Earth Summit and saw pupils send a message to world leaders in a seminar with Nobel Laureates and schools from other countries.

The link was organised by the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York and was the culmination of the school’s ‘Be The Change’ project. The Jo Rio Earth Summit has also seen a sustainability agenda for the school being launched, and everybody who attended has been asked to make their own pledge to improve the environment.