Can Youth Seize the Moral Moment at the U.N. Climate Summit?

CANCUN, Mexico—Climate change is supposed to be a problem that we (the present) must solve for our children (the future). But at the global climate talks here in Mexico this month, the voices of the future were very much clear and present.

An estimated 1,000 "youth" are in Cancun this year, both in and around the conference center, representing a growing force that official delegates from 194 nations must reckon with. Coming with youth alliances, non-profits and universities around the globe, from Nepal to Fiji to the U.K. and the U.S,  many have visibly joined forces in wearing blue t-shirts that read: "You have been negotiating all my life. You cannot tell me you need more time."

The statement, made by a young woman of the Solomon Islands around this time a year ago, definitely rang true at the 2009 conference in Copenhagen."[In Copenhagen], there was and still is a lot of disappointment amongst international youth. It was very hard to shake the feeling that we had just watched our future being thrown away," said Hilary Bowman of the Australia Youth Climate Coalition, a leader in the international movement.

And when the talks conclude this Friday, what's unfortunate is that this statement will very likely be nearly as applicable. Whatever is agreed to by the end of this week is expected to amount to baby steps, when a giant leap forward is what's necessary.

Still, the youth delegation had a big victory to celebrate on Friday, coming off a week of hustle and action. Delegates met and agreed to a proposal put forth and promoted by the youth cohort earlier this year. A part of what's known as Article 6 of the Conference of Parties text, the negotiators agreed to ramp up support for climate education and training programs worldwide, but especially in developing countries, and agreed to give the youth delegation are larger official voice in the negotiating process.

That's awesome, because as Bowman said, "We, the youth, still have faith in this process..We are not going to give up on this process." The youth delegation has already been advancing the causes adopted in Article 6. In Cancun, some are volunteering their time to help small, overburdened delegations from developing countries focus by taking notes and writing up summaries for them. Other groups have shared and pooled their funds to help bring youth voices from developing nations to the talks.

Christiania Figueres, head of the U.N. body organizing the talk, choked up in tears at the end of her  inspiring address on Thursday to a gathering of youth. She noted that the younger generation isn't nearly as tied down by national boundaries, political differences or large bank accounts yet. Instead, she said, this generation has its future at stake in making real progress, not setting unrealistic conditions.

"In my wildest dreams whatever the agreement could be, it will be pathetically insufficient," Figueres said. "We are ready to hand the baton over to you. You have the tools. You have the vision. We are only borrowing it for a few minutes...but this is your planet. Dudes, get a move on it."

If you are concerned about your own future in a warming world (If you are under the age of 25, you will be reaching retirement in 2050, when warming impacts could be severe) you can get involved with these youth-oriented groups that are building the climate movement:

Sierra Student Coalition (U.S.): http://ssc.sierraclub.org/

SustainUS (U.S.): http://sustainus.org/

List of Regional Youth Climate Networks Worldwide (U.K., India, Australia, Canada, China, etc.): http://youthclimate.org/get-involved/regional-youth-networks/

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (Global): http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/home

Unite for Climate (Portal for youth climate movement): http://uniteforclimate.org/

Photo credit: Linh.m.doh via Flickr

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