YOUTHS ON COP29

CCNTV6

All eyes are on Baku, Azerbaijan, the host city for this year's United Nations Climate Change Conference summit, also known as COP29.   In a webinar hosted by Climate Tracker Caribbean, young leaders from across the region discussed the critical issues affecting the Caribbean and expressed skepticism about COP's effectiveness. The main takeaway: Many feel COP has become a "talk shop" and that it's not living up to its promises.    Josette Deonanan has more on this story.

Transcript

00:00I don't think I've ever been convinced that the decisions coming out of COP are geared

00:08towards creating the transformations that are necessary to stem the climate crisis.

00:14And I feel like even more so this year, we're not going to see that massive shift.

00:21While Constapole remains doubtful about COP's ability to shift the needle, she emphasized

00:26the importance of keeping pressure on the decision-makers.

00:29Christiane Zakkour, Deputy Caribbean Front Coordinator for the World's Youth for Climate

00:33Justice, echoed similar sentiments, describing her past experiences at COP as deeply disappointing.

00:38I do believe that we as youth have a place in COP, in the negotiations, and to make it

00:47clear, you know, to have our own voices there, to make it clear that we want a better future.

00:53Zakkour's frustration reflects a growing sentiment among Caribbean youth.

00:57The promises made at COP have often fallen short, and urgent action is needed to address

01:01the crisis.

01:02However, there are still voices of optimism.

01:05Suriname's climate activist Luciano Dueste, while acknowledging the flaws of the system,

01:09remains hopeful.

01:10He believes that the youth still have an important role to play in shaping the future of climate

01:14negotiations.

01:15I've been to two COPs.

01:16I've been disappointed both times.

01:18I am quite cynical when it comes to these things.

01:22Another critical issue at COP29 is the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund.

01:27Established at COP27, the fund aims to help low-income and vulnerable countries cope with

01:32the irreversible impacts of climate change.

01:34The United Nations estimates that developing nations will need anywhere from $215 billion

01:39to $387 billion annually to mitigate the effects of climate change.

01:44Zakkour says the youth, through the Loss and Damage Youth Coalition Fund, are calling for

01:48more direct access and faster disbursement of funds to vulnerable communities.

01:53Jervon Sands, a Bahamian Rhodes Scholar, said the allocation for Loss and Damage is currently

01:57insufficient and must be increased to match the scale of the crisis.

02:00We've been waiting, especially in terms of CIDs, in terms of the region that we've been

02:07advocating.

02:08We've had our leaders and people who have come before us advocating for Loss and Damage,

02:13and they've just been giving crumbs after crumbs.

02:17Now with the Loss and Damage Fund being established, and funny enough it was established at the

02:24implementation COP, I was there at COP27, but nothing's been implemented yet.

02:30All of the reports are now saying the funding doesn't need to be doubled, it doesn't need

02:34to be tripled, it needs to be tens of times, by an order of magnitude, higher than it already

02:43As COP29 approaches, one thing is clear, Caribbean youth are not giving up on the fight for climate

02:48justice.

02:49Josie Doonanan, TV6 News.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended