New faces of activism against climate change leave the COP26 that today comes to an end

The global climate summit (COP26) – the most important at the international level, which brings together 196 countries and their world leaders, climate scientists, environmental experts and activists – comes to an end this Friday. In addition to the multiple pacts and commitments announced at the event, thousands of young environmental activists made their voices heard in Glasgow.

Hailing from Colombia, Bolivia and Brazil, the Philippines, Kenya, Sweden, Uganda and many other countries, young activists have proven to be the most interested in seeing that the commitments of world leaders to stop global warming are fulfilled.

At the meeting, announcements against coal, methane or deforestation have led the agenda and most observers agree that the commitments “are a step forward”, although they emphasize that “everything will depend on whether they are applied soon and well” .

According to United Nations data, if the announced measures are fulfilled would entail a reduction of 9 gigatons of CO2, compared to the total of 22 that must be eliminated before 2030 in order to limit the warming of the planet this century to 1.5 degrees, as stated in the Paris Agreement, implemented in 2015. There is also “a 16% chance of overcoming a warming of 2.4 ° C” by the century. XXII.

Vanessa Nakate, the Ugandan woman who asks powers to fulfill promises with Africa

Deadly floods that covered various parts of East Africa in 2018 caused Vanessa Nakate, Then 21 years old, together with his younger brothers and cousins, they made posters and began to protest in favor of the climate in the city of Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

Over the next three years, storms, wildfires and drought have grown stronger in Africa and around the world, as has Nakate’s desire to fight for the climate.

During this summit, the activist wrote an opinion piece for the newspaper Financial Times in which he reproached that the promises are not backed by immediate action. “We will not celebrate empty words and corporate greenwashing,” wrote the 24-year-old Ugandan woman.

Nakate also presented an open letter along with three other activists on the Avaaz platform, in which they raised the request for five immediate actions: act immediately to keep global warming below 1.5 ° C; end the promotion of fossil fuels immediately; transparency in the figures of the carbon that is expelled into the atmosphere; financing the climate transformation of poor countries and, finally, climate policies that reduce all forms of inequality, includes France24.

In her years of activism, The young woman has made repeated calls to governments, whom he accuses of “not doing enough to make the Earth habitable for future generations.”

Among his latest criticisms is the one he made against an unfulfilled promise by former US President Barack Obama.

Nakate said on his social media that when he was 13 years old, “Obama promised together with other rich countries $ 100,000 million annually to poor countries to help them fight and adapt to warming”, something that was never fulfilled.

The young woman has led projects to install solar panels and ecological stoves in a dozen schools in her native country.

Txai Suruí, the only voice of Brazil at the environmental summit

At 24 years old, the Brazilian activist, indigenous and law student Txai Suruí impressed more than one at the ceremony of COP26 with his two-minute speech.

“Today, the climate is warming, animals are disappearing, rivers are dying, and our plants no longer flourish like they used to. The earth is talking and she tells us that we don’t have any more time … It is not 2030 or 2050, it is now! Indigenous peoples are at the forefront of the climate emergency, so we must be at the center of the decisions made here, ”said the young woman who lives in a border region between the states of Rondonia and Mato Grosso.

Dressed in traditional indigenous clothing and a colorful plume, Txai ended up being the only voice from Brazil at the event.

The young woman is an activist in the state of Rondonia and works in the legal department of the Kanindé Ethno-environmental Defense Association, an entity that defends the indigenous cause in the Amazon.

Txai has more than 20,000 followers on its social networks, where the Paiter-Suruí people usually give a voice to their community. Infobae.

His parents, the chief Almir Suruí, is recognized worldwide for his fight against the predators of the tropical forest, and his mother, Ivaneide Bandeira Cardozo, is an important historian and indigenousist of the Amazon.

Your community is the first in the world to receive carbon certification, being pioneers in the sale of carbon credits through the REDD mechanism (Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).

“Txai went to bring the voice of the people of the forest here in the Amazon, the voice of the indigenous peoples, the voice of hope for the world,” said her father after the young woman’s speech and added that the teaching that made with her daughter is also the one her parents taught her.

Francisco Javier Vera, 12, is inspired by Greta Thunberg

At his young age, 12 years old, the Colombian Francisco Javier Vera Manzanares He has already managed to present his ideas at COP26 and be recognized worldwide for his environmental work. The The European Union appointed him a goodwill ambassador.

Vera is the founder of Guardians Environmental Movement, which is part of Fridays For Future, a group led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who has served as an inspiration for the child and whom he met during his stay in Glasgow.

How to stop afforestation, how to reduce the temperature of the planet or how to decarbonize transport, among others, were the topics that Vera addressed in different conversations with world leaders of the environmental event.

“You are a very young child, an inspiration to me and many young people. Never stop. You’re great despite the pressure you’re under. You can count on me, ”Thunberg told the Colombian.

Vera became known in 2019, after a three-minute speech in the Colombian Senate to ask parliamentarians to legislate against animal abuse, hydraulic fracturing and single-use plastics, pick up Third.

After the speech at the summit by the president of Colombia, Iván Duque, Vera asked him to “maintain the commitment to the environment that he claims to have.”

Meanwhile, not everything has been positive for Vera. The popularity that he has acquired has made him live in situations of harassment in social networks, which have taken him to the psychologist. Too death threats on repeated occasions in Colombia, a country where 65 environmental activists have died in the last two years, according to figures from ONG Global Witness.

Mitzi Jonelle Tan grew up amidst natural disasters in the Philippines

The Filipina Mitzi Jonelle Tan, 24, He grew up watching severe storms, floods and landslides hit his country so the climate crisis became his main concern.

In this edition of the summit, the young woman was part of several youth talks. Tan is an organizer and international spokesperson for Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (Yacap).

“The leaders of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) welcome those who caused the crisis. COP26 has done nothing more than simulation ”and greenwashing, Tan denounced days ago.

Tan was also part of the activists who delivered the open letter urgently urging world leaders to “tackle the climate emergency.” The letter has been signed by more than 1.5 million people around the world. France24.

The activist has raised her voice on several occasions to say that countries in the South Pacific are experiencing a situation of “climate trauma”.

“We know that our countries will be the most impacted and they already are and we already know what it looks like. We already know the fear that it brings us, and we know that it will get worse if things continue as usual, ”said the young woman, who posts constant calls on her social networks to take action especially to stop fossil fuel pollution.

Tan and his fellow Yacap activists have delivered climate lesson plans to vulnerable communities and are in talks with the Department of Education to institutionalize climate learning in the curriculum. (I)