They’re back: Today’s Fridays for Future strike — the first in 18 months — will see youth activists taking to the streets again to push progress on solutions to climate change.
Here’s what you can do to raise awareness and seek solutions where you are.
COY11 kicks off: ‘Your message is here’ on climate change
By Bethany Ao, GSS correspondent
PARIS — In the wake of terrorist attacks in this city less than two weeks ago that stunned the world and threatened to sideline a long-awaited summit on the environment, some 5,000 young people descended today on Paris to kick off the Conference of Youth, a three-day series of events, talks and activism focused on climate change and the health of the planet.
“I come from one of the places that was hit the hardest during Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), so climate change is obviously very important to us there,” said Peter Maneja, 20, from Leyte Island in the Philippines.
More than one million homes were destroyed and 2,357 people killed by Haiyan, which affected more than 10 million people — or 10 percent of the population of the Philippines, according to the UN.
Some participants traveled for days to get to Paris for COY11, which is taking place Nov. 26 to Nov. 28 at the Parc des Expositions of Villepinte, north of Paris.
“I think this conference is very good, and interesting for me, but today since it’s the first day, I’m very tired and I haven’t slept. I haven’t slept in 30 hours, so my mind has stopped,” said Abdelrahman Sobhy, 27, of Egypt.
But he added that he’s already learning about “genius” ideas, such as Liter of Light, a nonprofit group that uses recycled plastic bottles fitted with solar panels to provide light during natural disasters such as Haiyan.
“I love it,” said Sobhy. “In Egypt, a lot of factories use coal and because of that, a lot of people have problems with [their] lungs, big health problems. We have a lot of factories with a lot of chemical garbage, people drink water with that in it.”
“I come here because I need some hope, some idea,” he added. “Some people in Egypt live without any interest (in climate change), so I’m here because I’m thinking about how to move ideas from the conference to the people who need it.”
Opening speeches by Ahmed Alhendawi, the UN’s first-ever Secretary General for Youth, and Patrick Kanner, France’s Minister for City, Youth, and Sport, struck a similar chord:
— GSS (@GSSVoices) November 26, 2015
“Ecology is social cohesion and ecology means concern for future generations.” – @PatrickKanner during #COY11 opening. #GSS_COY11 — GSS (@GSSVoices) November 26, 2015
“Your message is here,” Kanner told COY participants. “You are ready and willing. You want to do things. You have things to say on the state of the planet. So go right ahead, and together, let us build a solution.”
In an interview with Global Student Square, Alhendawi said that young activists are not only speaking up but pushing for structural change.
COP21, which will begin Monday and lasts till Dec. 11, is aimed at getting the world’s governments to make lasting legal agreements to lower the world’s temperature by two degrees by reducing carbon emissions.
“(T)he message that this conference is sending is that young people around the world are convening, are watching and pushing for a legally binding agreement.” Alhendawi told GSS.
“That is a very important message,” he added. “Even before we get into the outcome of this meeting, just that the fact that we are convening here at such a tough time, sends a message that all leaders have to hear, that young people are not afraid, that young people are here, they’re committed, and they are the recipe to fight terrorism and to bring sustainability to the planet.”
COP21 will focus on investing in growing economies that need to reduce carbon emissions but also offer opportunities for innovation and growth of green economies. But that is a key for COY11 participants as well.
Maneja represents LeyTeam, a youth group that is connecting “young talent and entrepreneurs” in Leyte in building jobs and opportunities around sustainable growth.
“I hope to learn some new ways of innovation and technologies that we can use back in the Philippines at this conference,” Maneja said. “I think it’s really important for us to bring something back home. Young people in the Philippines care a lot about climate change because it really impacts our daily lives.”
—Bethany Ao is GSS News Editor for Europe and a junior at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. See more of her on-the-ground reports from COY11 on Twitter @GSSVoices, #GSS_COY11 and on Facebook. Follow Ao @BethanyAo and email her atbethanyao2017@u.northwestern.edu.
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