19-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said she was fed up with the “blah-blah-blah” of climate summits and signaled that she should not attend COP-27 in Sharm el-Sheikh until next week. . , in Egypt.
But even Greta’s dismay, the high costs of attending the event, and the restrictions imposed by the African country’s dictatorship did not keep young Brazilian environmentalists and many other nations away from the conference.
19-member Brazilian delegation. The aim of the Brazilian mobilizers this year was to recruit as many young participants as possible. The previous edition of the COP in Scotland was one of the most motivating the new generation to demand urgent solutions to stop the climate catastrophe.
Engajamundo, a leadership organization that aims to tackle environmental and social problems in the country and around the world, is represented this year by a 19-member delegation of activists from the Amazon, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga and Pampa.
Each wants to bring questions and experiences about the biome they live in to the global discussion. Attending a United Nations event is one way to reinforce the clear message to world leaders: time is running out.
Much talk and little movement. As for Greta’s accusations that climate summits are much talked about and little action is taken, Engajamundo’s youth agree, but they see the need to be present.
“All the decision-making spaces and blah are full, but that’s why we’re not going to stop occupying them,” says Carolina Dias, a 22-year-old political scientist from Pampa gaucho.
One problem, she complains, is the distance between leaders and civil society increases with each new conference. “The areas where activism can take place are very limited and inaccessible,” he says. “The negotiators are in the green zone there (far from the blue one). The negotiators finally fail to see manifestations of civil society.”
Frances Andrade, 26, also from Engajamundo, Sergipe, with a Masters in Forest Sciences, points out that Greta “opened doors” to youth activism, but she believes it’s time for the global South to invade this space. “The more faces, the better,” she argues.
Native sound. For 26-year-old native João Victor Pankararu, the moment is not to return but to take his voice around the world. Participating in New York Climate Week, she leads a leadership training process for the Articulation of Brazilian Indigenous Peoples (Apib) in Egypt.
“We’re trying to get our message across to global leaders,” says the young local man. “When Greta says she’s not coming, it seems like we young people don’t want to participate. It’s all about the youth and that’s not true. We need others to hear what we have to say.”
According to him, stricter rules in Egypt should not deter participants from going to parties. He says what has changed is the form of protest. “They have stricter rules, so we do smaller actions,” he says.
Different activism. According to Pedro Tufic of Impact Bank, perhaps a mismatch is beginning to emerge between a white and European activist and the youth of the Global South.
“She (Greta) spawned a movement that energized discussion,” she says. “But Fridays for Future (a Swedish woman-led movement) isn’t just hers, it has a huge capillary.”
Tufic says he won’t be at the COP this year due to business commitments, but he doesn’t see Egypt’s challenges as an insurmountable obstacle. “Last year we went with record numbers and I think this year it will be even more,” he says.
The Egyptian government avoids demonstrations. If there is one thing missing from the COP so far, it is the protests in front of the Blue Zone where countries have set up their pavilions, as well as the traditional march of young activists in the city centre. The Egyptian government has limited the protests to an area away from the central area, as well as from the complex hosting the event.
Until yesterday, there was no sign that this would change. The only permitted manifestation was vegan activists, some in animal costumes, distributing healthy food in front of the COP. and abusive prices.
The Egyptian government avoids protests, but young people continue to be present at the COP.
For the first time, a pavilion was created for them in the Blue Zone. And it is one of the liveliest areas on the planet, always crowded with people between the ages of 12 and 30 from all corners of the planet.
Some important names were already there, such as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. There are discussions on all the topics covered at the summit, but the focus is always on a young audience. On the colored walls are papers with messages from young people around the world on how to tackle climate change.
source: Noticias
