Success Depends on the Young

If there is one true success story from Cancun, it is young people continuing to stand up and take action on climate change.

It is amazing to see the energy and drive of young people from around the globe over the last two weeks at COP16 Climate negotiations.

Yesterday I attended a forum featuring former Irish Prime Minister Mary Robinson and last year’s COP President Yvo de Boer. But they were just the side event – it was the five young people next to them who stole the show.

It was remarkable how articulate and active these people were for their ages – the youngest being twelve and the oldest being seventeen. They mostly came from Latin America and spoke passionately about the reality of climate change they experience on a daily basis.

Coralie from Haiti in particular spoke with conviction and urgency, sharing stories of the changes she has witnessed already in only her short life. She spoke of how she can only just remember rainfall, how there is now no differentiation between summer and winter in Haiti, and how the forest where her and her father once went camping no longer exists.

Twelve year old Walter from Belize captured the mood of these young people when he said softly, “my life is real and so am I,” a statement which exploded in the minds of all those who view climate change from a distance.

It is the reality that young people face which drives them. Young people have the audacity and imagination to look beyond 2020, beyond 2050, and beyond themselves.

As environmentalist and author Bill McKibben told The Verb last week, “The youth have the bodies and passion and spirit and mobility; they can cross borders, culture, faith and wealth divides.”

At COP16, the youth – whether they are twelve or twenty-five, have shown an incredible spirit, a passion that has crossed divides that stall their elders.

Last Thursday was Youth and Future Generations Day, and all around Cancun young people mobilised to share their stories, their hopes, and their fears and participated in mass actions that highlighted the urgency required by world leaders.

Japanese youth held an elaborate faux wedding hoping to “renew the love between Japan and the Kyoto Protocol.”

Meanwhile a sea of blue shirts swarmed through the negotiating buildings, through and halls and was seen in all meetings. The shirts read, “You have been negotiating all my life. You cannot tell me you need more time.”

Don’t be mistaken, this is not a movement against their parents or grandparents; this is not fuelled by a teen angst. As one fifteen year old speaker at the forum yesterday said to the adults in the room, “We are willing to work with you, are you willing to work with us?”

On Saturday this spirit of cooperation was displayed in the major negotiations. In front of a full meeting hall, with over 100 young people present, nations reached a consensus decision in passing youth recommendations on an article with the UN text.

Article 6, as it’s called, ensures that education for sustainable development is supported – especially outreach education by youth nongovernmental organizations, such as the Scouts. The policy also ensures equity, sustainability and opportunity to young people and women from all backgrounds and cultures.

To waves of applause the young people’s recommendations on the Article were passed; and nations were unified in their praise for the efforts of the young.

Robert Owen-Jones, the chair of the negotiations, celebrated the decision and hailed young people as “potent agents of change”.

The future belongs to the young, yet it is the older generations who are determining what this future will be.

If there is one success to emerge from Cancun, it is the true spirit of the young. They have maintained the drive, the momentum and the hope when other felt defeat at the end of Copenhagen’s negotiations last year.

The youth haven’t given up, and have shown they are far from finished.

Mary Robinson urged young people to “confront people with your reality, and their responses to deal with your reality.”

As the COP16 negotiations fast approach a close, it is important to reflect on the reality that young people face. Negotiations and actions on climate change must begin to recognize the importance of young people and their role in dealing with the crisis.

They are the ones who will inherit the mistakes and successes of these current negotiations. Which outcome would you prefer to give your children? How will you be remembered by your grandchildren?