After a couple of seconds I realized the woman who had greeted me was Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland!

Mary Robinson and Me.

The forum started with 14-year-old Joseph from Kenya telling his story. During the discussion session, I decided to seize the chance to tell people about the situation in China. I began with the Oxfam "I DO" project. I told everybody that Gansu province, in northwest of China, is one of the regions worst affected by climate change. People there are victims of more and more frequent droughts and other natural calamities.

We went there in September when it is supposed to be harvest time. But what I saw were fields full of dying crops. And it is not just drought that is the problem. A local villager Qin Baoye told me. She said they also suffered from severe hailstorms following the long spell of drought that caused her crops to fail. As I told people this, I showed them my "evidence" - dry and withered corn from Gansu.

The audience was stunned by my evidence.