Some 5,000 students are expected to take part in the conference

Pupils from six eco-friendly schools in England will kick off the event, organised by conservation charity WWF.

Their presentations will be broadcast from an interactive website in the hope that other schools will follow suit.

The Sustainable Schools Global Learning Conference, backed by the Department for Education, runs from 11-22 June.

School children will be able to share their views with other pupils in the online cafe and view presentations in the virtual lecture hall.

It's good to know about these things so that when we're older we won't do things that make climate change worse Eleven-year-old Lee Baldwin Moorside Primary School

The event is being hosted by Global Learning Communities.

A spokesman said: "We are continually bombarded with stories about carbon emissions, water shortages, melting ice-caps and environmental degradation.

"But many schools and their students are embracing the challenge of sustainable living and want to share and explore their concerns, ideas and solutions."

The organisers hope to produce a report on the conference once it is over.

It may be used to put pressure on politicians to take issues of global sustainability and conservation more seriously.

One of the lead schools taking part is Woodheys Primary School in Sale, Greater Manchester, which has been designated an Eco-School since 2001.

Endangered species

Many of the its environmental initiatives are pupil-led.

Not only does it have an eco-school council which focuses on sustainability issues, it has a pupil-led energy team which reads electricity meters and checks the school's windows and doors are shut.

It also runs its own recycling scheme which takes old clothes, computers, ink cartridges and mobile phones among other things to raise funds.

The school is planning to set up an outside classroom incorporating a "trim zone" for physical well-being, and a science garden.

Meanwhile Moorside Community Primary School in Halifax, West Yorkshire, will be giving presentations on energy, waste and endangered species.

One of the school's pupils, Lee Baldwin, 11, says: "It's good to know about these things so that when we're older we won't do things that make climate change worse."

Pupils from Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate will also be sharing their tips on how to make schools more environmentally friendly.

The children have set up their own Fair Trade tuck shop at the school in east London, which is being rebuilt to take in environmentally friendly features including a green roof covered with plants, and self-cleaning windows.