Lessons from our December webinar
Photo credit: FRIDA | Young Feminist Fund
With their willingness to reject the status quo, today’s youth are driving change locally and at international levels through entrepreneurship and grassroots movements. To center their voices, CJRF convened representatives of our partner organizations to reflect on the role of youth at the COP26 climate talks and beyond.
This latest webinar was the second in a three-part series on how aspects of identity link to climate justice and resilience. (You can view our gender-focused webinar here). The December 7, 2021 conversation offered CJRF partners a chance to share lessons and insights around their work with youth to build climate resilience and justice.
Our discussion leaders for the event were:
· Maria Alejandra Escalante, FRIDA | Young Feminist Fund
· Shalaka Jadhav, Youth Climate Lab
Hilary Heath, CJRF program associate served as moderator and guided participants through the questions:
1. Even if you were or weren’t in person at COP, what sentiment did the UN climate talks leave you with?
2. What approaches have been successful to build voice and power among youth?
3. What do young climate activists and movements need right now to strengthen/build climate justice?
4. What would you want philanthropy to know about funding youth-led movements and organizations?
The following is a summary of the discussion:
Dissonance at COP26
As a first-time participant at the UN Climate Talks, Shalaka Jadhav viewed COP26 as a moment to recognize the scale of action that is required to address the climate crisis. The two-week meeting reminded Jadhav that the real power is on the ground in communities, not the high-level meeting rooms of COP26. Jadhav also noted that while collaboration and partnership are key to producing a strategy to move forward, COP was filled with moments of dissonance between what needs to be done and the motivations of politicians at the talks.
“On the one side there was so much power and wealth present,” Jadhav shared. “On the other side, folks without that power and wealth shared stories of disconnection and heaviness that was a weight on their shoulders as they came into the decision-making space.” Jadhav felt that those with power were not aligned in support of those bearing the largest burden of the work and impacts of the climate crisis.
Maria Alejandra Escalante chose not to attend the 2021 conference, pointing to the inaccessibility of the conference to those on the front lines of this crisis.
“I’ve been to many COPs before and participated in many different ways,” Escalante shared. “This year, my team and I at FRIDA decided not to attend because it was really hard for our partners to access.”
Escalante described the barriers climate activists from the Global South faced in order to get to Glasgow. This included travel distance, costs, and the COVID-19-related restrictions. The inability for locally led movements to access COP conflicts with Escalante’s belief that these movements are the real driving force for change. She believes we are moving toward a different model for creating change.
“Movements around the world are taking direct actions, campaigning, protecting, protesting, educating – all of that is absolutely crucial,” Escalante shared. “Those in the Climate Justice Movement are learning to decentralize power and to give leadership to voices that are on the margins.”
Crystal Martin-Lapenskie with the Inuit Circumpolar Council described her organization’s approach during COP26 to elevate the Indigenous voices leading the climate justice and climate resilience initiatives. Martin-Lapenskie said this approach meant getting Inuit delegates in as many panels as possible. This was especially important given the critical impacts of climate change on the Arctic.
“Our approach at COP26 was giving the voices of the people that are being impacted the most,” she shared. “We are talking about lives here, not policies. This is literally an emergency.”
Approaches to build voice and power among youth
CJRF grantee partners are working to build voice and power among youth in varying ways. Nayara Castiglioni from Engajamundo emphasized the need to help youth and others from varying backgrounds feel a personal connection to the crisis rather than just an intellectual understanding.
“We’re working to help youth understand how the social and environmental agenda impacts their daily lives and their communities, which includes simplifying the language around the climate crisis,” Castiglioni stated. “It really changes the way youth relate to issues when they can bring it close to them.”
Jadhav echoed the importance of creating a personal relationship to the climate – and expanding the definition of climate activism and the people doing this work.
“It’s not just focusing on the classic types of folks who engage in this space,” Jadhav shared. “We also need to think about the young people who are holding their ground in areas like housing, land, and racial justice. These areas are incredibly interconnected in the work of climate justice.”
Maria Alejandra Escalante pulled from her own climate activism experience and pointed to the commonly held perceptions that youth lack the necessary experience to drive change.
“Youth are challenging this idea around the world – it’s the youth who are political, who are demanding a healthy ecosystem and breaking apart the vision that power, money, and accumulation of wealth is the way forward,” Escalante shared.
What young climate activists and movements need
Despite having access to limited resources, youth are doing amazing work in the climate justice space. Escalante asked the group to imagine what youth could accomplish if they were fully resourced.
“Imagine if they were given the power, voices, and the spaces to grow their ideas,” she said.
Felipe Fontecilla of the Transición Justa en Latinoamérica Project shared that youth also need careers that complement their interest in sustainability and climate change. Fontecilla explained how limited green job opportunities force youth to pursue careers in other, less sustainable industries.
“We’re losing a lot of people that could have been working in climate-related fields because there aren’t enough jobs.” Fontecilla said. “Some people who are interested in this work will volunteer; however, we need the financial resources to fully dedicate our time to this work.”
Sohanur Rahman, a youth climate activist from Bangladesh also noted that at COP25 28 countries signed the Intergovernmental Declaration on Children, Youth, and Climate Action, which was a commitment to accelerate inclusive, child and youth-centered climate policies and action at national and global levels. It’s a promise that Rahman believes has been unfulfilled.
“It’s time to advocate for governments to fulfill the promise to include young people so that they can meaningfully engage in the negotiation process,” Rahman shared.
What philanthropy needs to know
Philanthropy should understand that youth are responsible and are trustworthy – especially when it comes to funding opportunities and implementing projects.
Faith Nataya from the Indigenous Information Network (a MADRE partner) underscored this point, mentioning that it is often difficult for youth and their grassroots organizations to get the funding necessary to accomplish their goals.
“Philanthropy should welcome initiatives where youth are made part of the implementation process with funders,” Nataya shared. “Funders need to understand youth priorities and needs to create processes that will actually work. They need to bring youth on board when creating processes.”
Escalante called on philanthropy to be an ally to the youth climate movement and to divest from industries that move us farther from our climate justice goals.
“I really want to challenge philanthropy to step up, because that’s what youth are doing,” Escalante said. “We’re stepping up. We’re shutting down the industries that are financing death and violence in our territories. And we’re uplifting the alternatives that center life.”
To hear more insights from our conversation, watch the full discussion on YouTube.
Stay tuned for insights from the next webinar in our identity series on the roles Indigenous People play in the context of climate change.