They were 13 to 25 years old, from Mexico to the Philippines, and they came together during COP28 in Dubai with the intention of raising their collective voice against climate change.
During the final text debate of the ‘UAE Consensus’ on climate change, state negotiators aimed to maintain the 1.5 degree Celsius target within reach. Meanwhile, over 100 youth activists protested outside the plenary session, demanding faster action on climate change.
Their determination to stop climate change’s worst effects and to create a sustainable future served as the foundation for their boldness and audacity. They chanted, sung, and gave impassioned statements. “Hey, hey, ho ho!” they exclaimed. “Fossil fuels must go!” and “It’s the end of fossil fuels when the water rises, the floods come, and people rise and sing.”
We didn’t just come to this UN Climate Summit to make noise; we also came to be policymakers. We presented a plan that called for a fair phaseout of fossil fuels.
Maria, who comes from a working-class family in Mexico’s Puebla, had personally seen the harshest effects of climate change. When a water crisis struck her own hamlet, she was six years old. She said, “I got sick from drinking polluted water.”
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