ONE of the youngest delegates to attend a world conference on climate change has returned home to the North-East disappointed.

Teenager Thomas Bielby, from Middlesbrough, won the right to attend the recent Bali summit after impressing the Institute of Development Studies and Plan International with a DVD he produced showing the views of teenagers in the Teesside town.

The 16-year-old, who goes to The King's Academy, in Coulby Newham, was one of only four children invited to the United Nations' meeting of leaders from 190 countries.

The other youngsters were from the Philippines, Sweden and Indonesia.

Thomas said: "We were there to lobby the decision makers to make sure that young people had a voice, because they will be the ones who will suffer the consequences of Government decisions today.

"I'm a member of the National Children's Bureau Youth Board, which was set up to make sure that young people could play a part in government decision- making.

"I'm one of 25 representatives across England who go out and get the opinions of young people on different issues, such as climate change.

"I had an idea to make a DVD showing the views of young people in Middlesbrough that also gave recommendations on how to reduce the rate of climate change."

He spent ten days on the island, but said he was so busy with the conference that he did not have much time to sightsee.

He met delegates from the US, Unicef, and UK ministers.

He also appeared in a Jakarta newspaper and was interviewed on Sky TV and BBC News 24.

He said: "We didn't get much spare time to explore Bali because even in the evenings we were writing blogs about the conference.

"But I did get to visit a temple, a market and a monkey forest.''

Thomas said he was disappointed with the conference because no targets were set to cut climate change.

He said: "I am disappointed that 190 countries came together in Bali.

"But really it was a setback because of the barriers some countries put up.

"I was asked by journalists if people in Britain understand the full implications of climate change and I had to say no.

"We can do a lot more than recycling, such as cutting emissions and using less energy."

Chris Drew, principal at The King's Academy, said: "Attending the Bali conference was a fantastic experience for him - which, by sharing what he learned, is helping to widen the horizons of many students at the academy and to raise awareness about climate change."