Opinion – COP26 did not focus on the genuine concerns of Gen Z

The demographics at COP reveal a dark underside of the climate conference. Youth and diverse voices may receive more media attention, but the conventional forces of power continue to lurk silently amidst the negotiations, exerting their presence and obstructing transformative change.

Representatives from the oil and gas industry were present in overwhelming numbers, as well as financial institutions whose investment portfolios still heavily rely on fossil fuel companies. Fossil fuel companies at the climate conference had more delegates present than any other country and were present at double the rate of official UNFCCC indigenous delegates (Global Witness).

Additionally, many of the panels were sponsored by these same actors, prompting us to ask if speakers are actually invited to challenge current practices surrounding financial investments. This signals a dangerous conflict in interest.

An overwhelming majority of the speakers, both youth and otherwise, I heard at the Climate Hub conference criticised the lack of productive outcomes coming from the official climate discussions.

During a session with other young, female climate activists, Greta Thunberg said that a truly successful outcome of the conference “would be if people realize[d] what a failure this COP is”. She continued: “change will not come from inside any of these conferences. Massive pressure from the outside is the only way to get [leaders] to act.”

Vanessa Nakate went further, saying that even if the promises were kept, they would not be sufficient.

“Climate change is already unbearable now on the African continent, and it will get worse. If we stop all new fossil fuel development and new oil exploitation now maybe we can slow warming to 1.5°C but even 1.5°C is already affecting us,” Nakate told the audience.

Another climate activist, Tori Tsui, pointed out the inherent contradiction of the UK pledging net zero emissions by 2050 and considering new offshore oil projects: “How will we reach zero emissions if we are building new oil drilling sites now in Cambo?”

Youth activists at COP16, and in their daily organising, are working to amplify this key message: we cannot trust governments and corporations to stick to their pledges, and even their most radical commitments are not enough to hold back irreversible damage to all aspects of our planet and society.

Increases of 1.2 °C are already producing droughts, famine, extreme weather (see this summer’s IPPC report) and ultimately mass migration (something leaders from the Global North may actually be afraid of). A new report published last week by the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) explains why the results of COP26 are not enough: “even with all new Glasgow pledges for 2030, we will emit roughly twice as much in 2030 as required for 1.5°C.”

The voices of youth activists do in fact add to the conversations at the conferences they are invited to. Many of the panels they participate in were subversive and carry more weight than their conventional, sponsored counterparts.

They advocated for their interests and future, as youth will be significantly more impacted by global heating (e.g. “Migration is a Sound Adaptation and Reparations Strategy”). However, a subversive conversation can only go so far. What matters most is where the power of decision-making actually lies – we need to see youth occupy positions of power to even be able to contemplate climate action from politicians.

On Friday, I left the official conference to see what was happening in the streets. Fridays for Future, the Extinction Rebellion and other groups such as Friends of the Earth came together to organize a march on Glasgow attended by 100’000 people.

A lot of the bold conversations that may have been better placed to happen inside the official spaces, were happening at the protest. There, scepticism of COP was high, but most were hopeful that through mass protests enough pressure can be put on governments to implement sound climate policies.

Young people are calling for collective action. In the talks at the Climate Hub, Thunberg emphasized the importance of organizing and pressuring governments.

Tori Tsui spoke of “coalition building” and to avoid divisive “perfectionism”. The march on Glasgow was the embodiment of coalition building, thousands of people marching from all areas of the world, from all sides of the political spectrum and from all backgrounds.

People came to protest the results of COP, but criticism wasn’t all they offered: people marched to show that they are invested in what will happen to their world. Their actions are a manifestation of the effects of climate policy failures.

After watching conferences on the problems, the solutions and the mindless debates created to allow leaders to better posture themselves in a failing process of disaster mitigation, I was tired to say the least.

How can politicians so obviously indulge in these debates over the ways in which we should act, when the answers are being articulated clearly by young people and frontline communities?

As I was walking with these activists, calling for real action, the feeling of exhaustion I had built up at these conferences vanished. While many weren’t scientists or experts in policy, it felt like people there knew what was happening, they were not fooled by the rhetoric of inactiveness promoted by officials inside the talks.

Although oil and gas CEOs continue to operate with little coverage, activists were rightly promoted by the media during COP26.

Understanding they may be used as tokens for less honest actors, they used agitative rhetoric to help us sift through all of the posturing and performative activism at COP. Youth leaders from around the globe helped us understand the “greenwashing campaign” for companies and CEOs, and allowed us to remember that effective action must come from coalition building and organising with people who are most affected by the crisis.

In many instances, it is clear that the inclusion of youth voices at COP26 is performative. The fact that the drafts for the final COP agreement do not better reflect the messages activists are promoting proves this.

But they have successfully created awareness surrounding potential COP policies. The criticism of the climate conference shows us that people expect more from our leaders at COP, and youth climate activist are, if anything, present to show us what is really happening.

This article was originally written by Christophe Domec. Click here to visit his LinkedIn profile and click here to view his Twitter profile..