鈥楳y responsibility to be hopeful鈥�: The Climate Generation at COP28
| Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Fresh off 21 hours of travel and two flights from her home in Barbados to 鈥渢he farthest I have ever been,鈥� Naomi Cambridge tackles the first day of her first-ever Conference of Parties, or COP, powered by 鈥渁drenaline and hope.鈥�
Like many young activists balancing their climate work and university studies, she spent hours on the way to Dubai cramming for end-of-semester university exams waiting for her next week. At the climate conference Tuesday, she smiles and waves down colleagues she had previously only met via Zoom, as they push for commitments to phase out fossil fuels and financing for developing countries.
鈥淲e are not all starting from an equal playing field or the same starting line,鈥� Ms. Cambridge said of developing nations鈥� struggle to access or afford renewable energy technologies 鈥� a major concern. 鈥淚t is our generation鈥檚 role to push for climate justice.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onA climate conference in a country built on big oil might generate cynicism in the most hopeful among us. But young climate activists say they have no time for the pessimism that marks the debate over global warming.
Two dynamics hit her within her first hour here: inclusivity and the 鈥渋nflux鈥� of oil and gas firm lobbyists and PR firm handlers. 鈥淏eing at COP at an oil- and gas-producing country is a bit of a paradox, but it is not necessarily a negative thing,鈥� she says. If the United Arab Emirates and other oil producers 鈥渁re sincere,鈥� it can 鈥渂ring climate activists into the same room.鈥�
This is the kind of credible hope that defines the Climate Generation, as the Monitor chronicled in a global project about the cohort born since 1989, when consciousness of children鈥檚 rights and global warming began to intersect. Here at COP28, we met up with three of these young change-makers to hear how the conference is playing out from their perspectives.
Public cynicism and skepticism abounded even before this COP opened in Dubai, with the world set to miss its 1.5-degree-Celsius target. Climate apathy is prevalent among young people, which is why Ms. Cambridge has set out to counter it at COP. 鈥淗ope is the fundamental thing that spurs action. We need action; therefore we need to be powered by hope,鈥� she says.
And if, as it seemed on Friday, rich developing nations and oil producers are digging in their heels and refusing to grant concessions to developing nations?
鈥淎ll the more reason for youth to be here. Our main role here is to hold the officials at COP28 accountable,鈥� she says.聽 聽 聽 聽 聽
He鈥檚 nonstop
Namibian Deon聽Shekuza聽darts from negotiation rooms to panels to pavilions with a bounce in his step, somehow locked onto both his phone and everyone around him, stopping every minute to wave or clasp hands with an acquaintance.
Since he鈥檚 an eight-time veteran at COP, you might think he runs the place.
As a climate negotiator for Namibia focusing on the issue of a just and inclusive transition, he is splitting his time advocating for adaptation funding for Africa, negotiating at odd hours day and night, presenting young Namibians鈥� views at panels, and guiding first-time African youth COP-goers under his wing. 聽
It is exhausting. But his energy and voice do not falter. Neither does his smile. 聽
鈥淭his is the only forum where all our voices, all nations, on paper are equal,鈥� he says in between shaking hands with a delegate. 鈥淣amibia has a voice in the process, young people have a voice in the process, and we must take advantage of this opportunity and keep talking and acting to push for change every way we can.鈥�
There have been setbacks. He describes the big money pledges and announcements by the COP28 organizer, the UAE, as 鈥渁 distraction,鈥� sizzle without substance. He worries too about his country鈥檚 over focus on green hydrogen as its climate response, and the conference鈥檚 complete absence of attention on adaptation financing for developing countries.
Then there is the exclusivity: closed-door meetings, delegates and negotiators being cordoned off into hallways for hours as princes and world leaders arrive.聽Lobbyists are everywhere.
On Tuesday, the COP28 presidency booted Mr. Shekuza and other negotiators from the room they were convening in to make way for a high-level private-sector 鈥渆vent.鈥� 鈥淚 accidentally wandered into one VIP lounge, and I never saw so many world leaders and CEOs in my life,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey should be in the negotiating rooms, not closed rooms.鈥�
But he still retains hope in the process, no matter this year鈥檚 outcomes.
鈥淭here is a global focus on climate right now. It is up to us to steer the negotiations and debate into the right direction,鈥� he says.
Soaked school books
Farzana Faruk Jhumu聽has spent COP crisscrossing the 2-square-mile expo center, racing from the United Nations women鈥檚 pavilion, to informal negotiation talks, down to the Bangladesh pavilion, and to the UNICEF pavilions where she distributes brochures and speaks to visitors.
For the聽UNICEF youth ambassador and Bangladesh representative, conference days run from 9 a.m. panels to 11 p.m. reviews of negotiation texts before doing it all over again.
But the amount of oil and gas lobbyists 鈥� 2,347, a number she has memorized 鈥� and lack of progress in talks on fossil fuels, saving the 1.5-degree warming goal, and financing have been discouraging.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 even want to talk about a fossil fuel phaseout or the 1.5-degree mitigation goal,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e, the civil society, are fighting to put it in.鈥�
She had initial high hopes for the 鈥渓oss and damage鈥� fund, a reparations fund for countries hit by climate disasters and a hard-fought gain by the developing world at last year鈥檚 COP. It was activated on the first day of this year鈥檚 conference.
But the financial commitments, some $600 million, remain well short of the $100 billion required. 鈥淲hen we need billions, we are getting millions,鈥� Ms. Jhumu says. 鈥淚f you put a charity box outside of COP, you could collect the same amount. It is sad and insulting.
鈥淓very day in the morning I say, do I have to go here? Then I think of the women and children in my country who are building solutions for themselves.鈥�
The image that keeps her going: Bangladeshi children drying textbooks in the sun after a flood, determined to continue learning to earn a better future.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 lose hope when they lose so much,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t is my responsibility to be hopeful and to be there for these people. They give me the energy to move forward.鈥�
