Figueres, A Divisive Figure Amongst Youth

The first Thursday of the UN climate change negotiations is historically the ‘Young and Future Generations day’.

The talks are serious in nature, and the presence of youth is essential – especially given the likelihood of young people living through the climate impacts of the future. “Youth have always been the guiding force for any change” Ahmad Alhendawi preached to the converted yesterday, and that “[in] these negotiations, you are contributing to moving [them] forward”.

Festivities were held throughout the day to highlight young people and their role within the movement. The tone of the conference has been sobering since the the un-inviting of UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres from the conference of youth.

The morning began with an action where youth held signs in their native tongues that depicted the birth dates of those who are yet to be born into this climatic situation. It was the colour often missing from within the negotiations themselves.

The real event was the annual intergenerational inquiry panel featuring ADP co-chair Kishan Kumarsingh; France’s ambassador for climate change Jacques Lapouge; UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi; UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres; and two youth delegates – Nathan Niedermeier and Sylvia Yirenkyi.

Niedermermeier, a minor, represented other delegates under the age of 18 who had been granted a 3-day pass to the negotiations. As of last year youth minors were no longer allowed into the negotiations, with little explanation. Figueres has said that this is a UN rule, although the highly attended Rio+20 event in 2012 had an overwhelming number of delegates aged under 18 years of age.

This has been coupled with a reduction in NGO accreditation due to security limitations with the venue. Figueres explains that there are security concerns and the decision has resulted in “frustrations that everyone has across the nine constituencies”.

Figueres, a divisive figure within the climate movement, blew some away with her personal message to youth. She reminded them that: “this is a marathon, this is not a sprint. We are not going to win this battle today or tomorrow. This is a long battle and we have to keep it up and train every single day”.

A considerable minority have been disgruntled at her though, Graham Reeder tells The Verb that the “Figueres of today is not the Figueres of three years ago”.

“She was brought in to tidy up the image of the secretariat to make it look more empathetic and engaged with civil society.” Unfortunately UN limitations and rigidness have made her task a near impossible one. The bureaucracy is understood, but the facade is not appreciated, “relations were bound to sour over time”.

Moving beyond this particular COP, Reeder believes “she has significantly changed her tone with civil society engagement, tightened restrictions, overstepped boundaries, and done little to work with COP hosts to increase access.” Delegates have not been provided with Schengen visa support and some Nigerian delegates have been turned away at customs.

It is important for Figueres to remain impartial, but many are now wondering if she was ever genuinely interested in engaging with civil society.

By Andrew Johnson, photo by Alashiya Gordes.