Empowering. Inspiring. Acting. #coy8
Cressie, second from right, with other youth delegates at the Children's Climate Forum in Copenhagen in 2009. © UNICEF/NYHQ2009-2183/Pires
The atmosphere here at COY8, the 8th Conference
of Youth, exudes passion, commitment, energy and determination: young people
from across the globe, north and south, developing and developed nations are
meeting in Doha, Qatar, all with the common cause of working together to tackle
climate change. Young people are being empowered. I feel empowered. We, as
young people, are part of the solution to climate change.
I have met so many amazing fellow delegates, like Reuben Makomere, 25, a law student living in Kenya: "We are and will be the most affected
by climate change. We are the largest demographic. This is an opportunity for
us to make change. I want to be part of message, to convey the voice of young
people in Kenya, Africa, around the world."
This morning, Sophia and I ran a workshop entitled, "A crash
course, for beginners, on the UNFCCC, United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change". By informing young people we are empowered and can make our
voices heard. During the workshop we covered many of the acronyms related to
the UN negotiations, something which I found initially, difficult; if you don't know that COP18 stands for the 18th Conference of the Parties, it is hard to feel confident about what is going on.
It is vital that we, as young people, have a voice: we will be the most affected by climate
change, but we also can help implement the solutions to climate change on a local,
national and international level.
During the workshop we went through why we are here: primarily because of the urgency of climate change, time is running out and the
window in which we can act to slow the effects of global warming is fast
closing. Climate change induces more extreme weather patterns, so droughts,
floods and other "natural" disasters increase in frequency and severity: the
most vulnerable members of global society, particularly women and children in
the southern hemisphere are disproportionately affected. Thus it is crucial
that we, as young people, maintain and build the pressure on our negotiators to
push for an ambitious second phase of the Kyoto Protocol. We also explained how
YOUNGO (the youth constituency of the UN) works: as a constituency, which is a group of
people who share a common interest, it has a horizontal structure, everyone has
a voice and it operates through a network of working groups,
focusing on issues such as adaptation, mitigation, communication, women and
gender.
There are so many informative and engaging workshops going
on where young people are sharing their incredible wealth of expertise with
one another. The presence of the AYCM, Arab Youth Climate Movement, is also so
inspiring and building increasing momentum. COY enables young people to empower themselves so that we are able to
have the maximum impact upon the COP negotiations and many actions are being
planned for the start of COP. We are determined to make the message loud and
clear to negotiators that we, as young people, care. We are calling for an
agreement with ambitious and equitable emissions targets, implemented by a
strong mechanism that holds countries accountable and there must be common
accounting.
The time for young people to be listened to is now.
Cressie Mawdesley-Thomas is a former young climate ambassador for UNICEF UK