UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka Gwyn Lewis has said climate change is happening today and there are lots of plans and places to mitigate and adapt.

“The voices of young people are being reflected and integrated into these plans. Now we need action. We need to know young people‘s perspectives on climate issues,” she said ahead of the COP27.

To foster climate negotiation and youth voice at the global level, Brighters Society of Bangladesh, with the support of ActionAid Bangladesh organized a virtual two-day long pre-COP conference titled ‘Bangladesh Youth COP 2022’ on September 17-18.

Director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development Prof Saleemul Huq said, “Don’t have high hopes from COP 27. The leaders of the world come together in COP and take some small initiatives. So, only participating in COP is not important.”

He said the climate change problem of yesterday is not the same for today or tomorrow. “We already entered the era of loss and damage of climate change. We need to highlight the loss and damage issues in the COP. Polluters of the world must agree and pay to the sufferers of pollution. Young people need to act as leaders and activists to advocate and engage others.’’

Saber Hossain Chowdhury, MP said it is impressive that young people from every corner of Bangladesh are thinking about the whole world.

“We need them to battle against the climate change issues. We are seeing different crises globally because of climate change,” he said.

However, the lawmaker said, the sad reality is that they have not yet found any sustainable solution for it.

“Climate change is an agenda of young people, by the young people and for the young people. It’s high time young people led from the forefront, their voices are heard and acted upon. I think, even though they are the front liners, their concerns are not reflected and often remain unheard at the policy-making level,” he said while speaking as the chief guest at the closing session.

He added, “We try to reflect on the youth voice and their recommendations in COP and engage them progressively.”

In this pre-COP conference, young people from Bangladesh and other parts of the world demanded six points and asked for immediate actions from the world leaders.

These demands include keeping the increase of average global temperature within 1.5°, stopping fossil burning and using renewable energy, providing compensation for countries affected by climate change, giving climate responsibility to residents of developed countries, ensuring protection funds for women and children affected by climate change and ensuring adequate funding and technical support for adaptation.

Jannatul Maoua, a representative of the youth community at the conference, said the salinity of water and the shortage of clean water have increased due to climate change, affecting women the most.

Urging youth to be the one being represented at COP 27, International Children's Peace Prize winner and youth icon Greta Thunberg said the voices in this world having most power belong to the ones who are destroying it.

“The powerful voices of the global north say they pledged to be climate neutral by 2050, turning everyone back to sleep. If they cared, they would immediately reduce their emission for the benefits of billions of people. But they are not caring, they are not being honest. Instead, they are spending their time actively delaying the necessary changes and prolonging their business as usual for their own benefit,” she said.

“If we continue like today, COP 27 will just be yet another chance for them to pollute the world. We cannot let that happen one more time”, she added.

Reefat bin Sattar, Director, Program, Development & Quality, Save the Children in Bangladesh said, “We already are a failure. So, young people should come forward to take the leadership role.”

Dr. Ainun Nishat, Emeritus Professor, Center of Climate Change and Environmental Research, BRAC University said, “Climate change is not the problem of today; not the problem of tomorrow; not the day after tomorrow. 30 years later maybe we won’t be here, so it is your problem.”

Farah Kabir, Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh said erratic weather behavior and the dramatic climate change puts young people at risk; therefore, young people want to understand what’s happening, how they can deal with climate change, and how their voices, their concerns can be taken to COP 27.

“I believe, it can draw the attention of the international community, and national-level policymakers through the conference and establish a bridge between policymakers and youth advocates so that not a single problem is ignored,” she said.