World leaders have gathered at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to discuss climate change, but what have young voices had to say about the problems inherited by older generations?
Complaints, indignation and concern have been the common denominator not only at COP27 but in everyday life. Young activists gathered at the Summit to demand that consistent action be taken to stop climate change.
Vanessa Nakate, for example, an activist originally from Uganda, denounced the climate crisis in Africa, which has led to the worsening of the conditions of Africans in relation to problems such as access to drinking water or food.
“Loss and damage is like what I explained is happening, what I have seen, in Turkana, in northwestern Kenya. Children, women, suffering, without access to water, without access to food; doctors talk about the many cases of children in hospitals with serious malnutrition problems,” Nakate explained in an interview with Democracy Now!
The concept of "loss and damage" has been one of the most repeated throughout the Summit; it is the way in which industrialized countries, and especially large polluting companies, have been denounced and demanded to compensate countries that are experiencing the serious consequences of the exploitation of natural resources.
The term covers both economic losses – homes, land, farms or businesses – and non-economic losses – the death of people, cultural sites or biodiversity.
"We see loss and damage in Pakistan, with floods that have caused more than a thousand deaths and millions of displaced people. This is what is happening in Nigeria with the floods, this is what is happening across the African continent with cyclones. It is very clear that climate change is putting communities beyond the ability to adapt," the Ugandan activist denounced.
For her part, environmental activist Sophia Kianni and one of the youngest councilors of the UN, denounced that those responsible for climate change say one thing and do another, and demanded that they stop lying.
“They say one thing and do another. Simply put, they are lying. These are not my words or the words of other young activists. No. These are the words of UN Secretary General António Guterres,” Kianni explained when she took the stage at the COP27 podium.
The young woman challenged the audience and ironically asked what language they should use to explain the situation around the world so that they understand the seriousness of the problem.
“In what language do we have to translate the climate data so that you take action? Please tell us. Is there a secret language between world leaders that we don’t know about? Because I want to believe that the only reason why you are not taking the required measures regarding the climate is because you do not have the information. Because if you have had the information and you are just pretending to take action, it would be unforgivable,” the young woman asked seriously.
In several languages, Arabic, Russian, French, Spanish and English, Kianni demanded firmly: “Stop lying.”
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