World’s Youth for Climate Justice at the UNFCCC COP27

Between 06 - 19th of November 2022 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to take stock, negotiate and accelerate mitigation, adaptation, finance and climate action more broadly.

WYCJ at COP27 

WYCJ was represented on the ground by numerous ambassadors, accredited as youth delegates through their countries, with educational institutions (Shout-out to the University of Hawaii) or non-governmental civil society organizations. It was truly historical for our campaigners to come together in-person, get to know eachother, share stories, snacks and lessons learnt from respective home.

WYCJ is an umbrella network, making use of the well-organized, well-connected and highly skillful youth organizations working on climate issues worldwide. We work to bring together young people on climate justice and offer the AO as one tool for them to channel their stubborn optimism. Therefore, we were delighted to welcome 80 young people from across the world at our youth reception on Tuesday, 15th November at the Marina-Sharm Hotel.

During COP27, PISFCC and WYCJ jointly hosted a Youth Reception which gathered young climate activists from all over the world. In this reception, young people had the opportunity to learn more about the ICJAO campaign, but also share their perspectives on what climate justice means to them. The event had a huge turnout and broadened WYCJ’s global network of stubborn optimists fighting for climate justice.

Our members had the opportunity to share our ideas and vision on the potential of an ICJAO in various panels, meetings and press conferences.

• Our campaigner Elisa joined: High-level Briefing on Vanuatu’s call for a UN Resolution to Seek an Advisory Opinion on Climate Change from the ICJ - LLA Pavillion, 15/11/2022.

Speakers:

• Hon. Ralph Regenvanaru (Republic of Vanuatu Minister of Climate Change);

• Ms. Cristelle Pratt (Assistant Secretary General, Organisation for African, Caribbean, and Pacific States)

• Elisa Granzotto (World’s Youth for Climate Justice).

Moderator:

• Dr. Christopher Bartlett (Manager, Republic of Vanuatu’s Climate Diplomacy Program)

This event, hosted by the Republic of Vanuatu provided an overview of the objectives of the initiative, progress towards achieving an ICJ AO on climate change, as well as the perspective of States, international organizations, and civil society on the effect and significance of receiving such an opinion.

• Elisa also joined a press conference: “Let’s raise the temperature in climate negotiations - A perspective from Latin American civil society”.

CANLA online press conference clarifying which will be the position of Latin American civil society during the final negotiations at COP27.

Mediator:

Jean-Baptiste Budot (Technical Assistant CANLA Secretariat)

Panelists: 

• Adriana Vasquez (Administrative Director of La Ruta del Clima): talking about the financing mechanism for Loss&Damage, and demanding a climate fund.

• Alejandro Aleman (Coordinator of Climate Action Network America Latina): talking about the barriers to participation in the UNFCCC spaces, especially during this COP27, posing difficulties to the equitable participation of all actors to the negotiations.

• Marcos Nordgren Ballivian (Technician of the Bolivian Platform facing climate change): talking about Article 6  and the alternatives to the carbon market.

• Elisa Granzotto (World’s Youth for Climate Justice): talking about the importance of the presence of the Latin American Region in the ICJ AO campaign. So far only Costa Rica has committed to take a strong position to protect the human rights of its citizens against the consequences of climate change, by joining the core group supporting the ICJ AO. Calling the other Latin American governments to take action and to vote favorably in the UN General Assembly.

Networking at COP27

With about 35.000 delegates COP27 presented a unique opportunity for us to re-connection with long-standing supporters, friends and advisers, as well as spread the message wider and reach new audiences and like-minded organizations. We were delighted to meet some of our Friends of the Initiative and fellow Alliance for Climate Justice Advisory Opinion (ACJAO) members. 

Thanks to our partnership with Climate Action Network Latin America (CANLA), our campaigners Elisa Granzotto, Clara Botto and José Rodríguez were able to meet with State representatives from El Salvador and Mexico, as well as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights. In these meetings, we requested their support for the Advisory Opinion campaign, as well as the urgency to form a regional coalition to integrate latin-american perspectives on climate justice. 

Our campaigner Clara Botto also had the opportunity to meet with political authorities from Brazil, and asked for their support for the AO campaign. Moreover, we met with young activists from Perú, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica, and influential regional organizations, such as the Inter-American Association for the Defense of the Environment (AIDA) establishing grounds for a cooperation relationship to further support in the region. As a result of our networking, several youth organizations became Friends of the Initiative, including Fridays for Future Argentina, EcoUCV (Venezuela), Funcamino guardianes de la vida (Colombia), Juventud del Presente (Guatemala), and Sustainable Ocean Alliance (Ecuador). 

Our campaigner Jule Schnakenberg had a chance to meet Sena Toko, the founder of JVE. We have been working closely with JVE Cote d’Ivoire for over a year, and had a chance to hear Sena’s ideas on how to grow the ICJAO movement on the African continent. Our African campaigner coordinator Khulekani was on the ground networking with African youth on the importance of climate justice and the inherent connection between climate change and human rights. 

ICJAO at COP27

We are delighted to see how the ICJAO has gained momentum, with numerous side-events being held with outstanding co-panelists. 

Please find below some fascinating examples:

• Side-event at the Resilience Hub hosted by the Commonwealth Foundation with HE President Nikenike Vurobaravu, the stellar CJ-campaigner Elizabeth Wathuti, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Patricia Scotland.

• High-Level side-event, organized by the ACJAO, w/ Dr Christopher Barlett representing the Vanuatu government,  Dr Agnès Callamard (Secretary General Amnesty International), Yeb Saño (Executive Director, Greenpeace Southeast Asia), Vanessa Nakate (Founder, Rise Up Movement), Tasneem Essop (Executive Director, CAN International). Watch the side event here.

Outcomes of COP27

Here is where you can find deeper analysis by our friends and fellow climate justice advocates on the process and outcomes of COP27. 

• Climate Tracker’s coverage from COP27.

• For detailed coverage per day and summary report from the Earth Negotiation’s Bulletin.

• Carbon Brief’s analysis of the COP27 Outcomes.

Want to join young people in bringing the world’s biggest problem to the world’s highest court? Get in touch with your regional front here.