Youth summit prior to COP26 reveals its list of demands

Young people attending a recent youth climate conference in Milan, Italy, presented their list of demands to world leaders on Monday before a United Nations meeting aimed at trying to avoid environmental devastation.

There is a week left for some, but not all, world leaders to report to Glasgow, Scotland, to begin COP26After two weeks of climate negotiations, young delegates at the Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition summit say the 44-page manifesto represents their effort to influence the outcome of the UN meeting.

“We are working to make sure our voices are heard at COP26,” said Olivier Nihimbazwe, the Burundi delegate who attended Youth4Climate last month. wrote on Twitter with a link to the document.

“They are concrete proposals based on the science, experiences and aspirations of 400 young leaders from around the world.”

COP, short for Conference of the Parties, brings the world together to conclude agreements to reduce global warming. It has taken place since 1995. The talks bring together politicians, scientists, environmental activists, climate experts and the media from the 197 member countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to set and work towards global climate goals. This year, COP26 will take place at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12.

The Youth4Climate manifesto is a more complete version of a statement published shortly after the event. It calls on all levels of government around the world to take specific steps to engage youth in meaningful action on climate change.

Its authors push for net zero emissions by 2030, at which point the young delegates hope that the fossil fuel industry will be abolished through “a complete and systemic phase-out initiated by developed countries, with the provision of support to countries. in development to allow for an aspect of equity in the context of a sustainable transition ”.

The document also emphasizes the need for nature-based solutions to preserve biodiversity and help adapt to climate change, and estimates that these efforts could significantly contribute to the overall climate solution.

The young delegates have included a series of safeguards requested to ensure solutions. do not “disrespect ecosystems and local communities.”

Such solutions must always include free, prior and informed consent, the document says, and significant provisions for loss and damage related to any project. It also calls on countries to create permanent representative positions for youth and indigenous peoples to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate climate solutions.

Youth4Climate’s demands were unveiled on the same day that the UK, which is hosting COP26, said the world would not deliver on rich nations’ promise to provide $ 100 billion a year in funding to developing countries. by 2020, and that he would now work to achieve it. there by 2023.

Beyond government action, # Youth4Climate delegates also want to see transformations in entrepreneurship, sports, fashion, the arts, and academia. # COP26 #Climate crisis

Earlier this month, Youth4Climate attendees, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, condemned the “30 years of blah, blah, blah” that have emerged from climate talks between world leaders. Instead, the youth manifesto proposes binding and equitable measures in the future. It calls on politicians to ensure inclusive participation in decision-making through legal and policy tools, such as quotas for youth, indigenous peoples, and marginalized groups in climate policy-making.

Beyond government action, Youth4Climate delegates also want to see transformations in entrepreneurship, sports, fashion, the arts, and academia.

The manifesto urges athletes to use their platforms to inspire young people to live more sustainably and for sports teams to ditch fossil fuel advertisers and massive polluters.

Meanwhile, the fashion industry should look to shift more of its production to materials and practices with a low climate impact, the document says.

The manifesto also calls for each and every research directly related to climate change from publicly funded universities, colleges and research institutes to be accessible.

TO new important survey The UN Development Program (UNDP) released on Monday predicted that public pressure for bold climate action from the world’s major economies will likely only strengthen going forward, with the strongest demands coming from those under 18. .

“As they come of age, political leaders cannot ignore the heightened expectations of this emerging climate-conscious electorate,” said Stephen Fisher, a sociology professor at Oxford University who participated in the research.

The survey interviewed more than 689,000 people, including more than 302,000 people under the age of 18, in 18 of the G20 countries from October 2020 to June 2021. It found that the majority of those under 18 surveyed believed that climate change It is a global emergency, and 63 percent said it in Argentina and Saudi Arabia and 86 percent in Italy and the United Kingdom

In most countries, young people are more likely to believe this than adults, with particularly large margins in Australia, the United States and India (11, 10 and nine percentage points, respectively), he said.

The UNDP poll found Canadians among those most supportive of the issue of a climate emergency in the G20, with three-quarters of adults calling it that, along with 83 percent of young Canadians.

A youth climate strike is scheduled to take place in Glasgow on November 5, while COP26 is underway, after the leaders have left, but long before a deal is reached.

Morgan Sharp / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada National Observer



Reference-www.nationalobserver.com

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