COY17 Sharm El Sheikh: Another missed opportunity to meaningfully engage youth

 
 
 

By Sana’ Khasawneh

Between November 2nd and 4th, Egypt hosted the 17th version of the annual COY on the sideline of the annual UN Climate Change Conference, also known as the Conference of the Parties (COP).

We were absolutely delighted that, for the first time, there was a COP President Envoy on Youth. And not someone, but the amazing Dr. Omnia el Omrani. She was a chairperson on the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety and one of the youth leaders founding the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. She was now tasked with the enormous challenge to introduce and embed a meaningful dialogue with youth at the conference. There were multiple side events, and a Children and Youth Pavillion in the Blue Zone, a space close to the main discussions that delegations were leading at the Climate conference. I would like to start by congratulating Omnia for doing her utmost best to create a foundation for us to build. She had very limited resources and time to accomplish the impossible, and this is where I think improvements can be made. Not only changing our mindset on meaningfully engaging with youth, by e.g. appointing a Youth Envoy, but also having the commitment and the investments to follow through and make the intentions real.

From a youth perspective, we have faced many challenges getting inside COY17 and COP27. We would like to share some of our experiences to improve meaningful way Youth contribution and participation at the next COP28.

Since the beginning of the year, I have been chasing delegations and organizations and exploring ways to participate in this key event. It has become an annual struggle for young climate activists to find a youth-friendly space at the COP; therefore, many young people hope to find in COY what they cannot achieve through the closed spaces of COP. This year, the situation is no different. Getting accreditation for the blue and green zones is challenging and unfortunately not inclusive for civil society organizations or youth organizations.

 

A view of Sharm El Sheikh city center.

 

**Practical Barriers:

  1. REGISTRATION. This year, it was mandatory to register to get accredited for the green zone, which limits youth participation, the most affected age group by climate change.
  2. COSTS. Logistics- Hotel and food prices continuously increased during the runup and during COP, which is not affordable for youth. Many youth delegates needed help to get proper accommodation because COVID-19 measures were not considered in the places assigned to them.
  3. TRANSPORTATION. Transportation has been a crucial challenge for young people. Public transport was not provided to mobilize youth delegates of COY17 from the airport to the main venues of the Conference zones. Shuttle buses do not cover the whole area of Sharm El Sheikh, and it was super costly for youth to rely on taxis to go from their hotels to the main venue.
  4. CONNECTIVITY. During COY17, no internet or technical support was provided in the venue or the meeting rooms. Youth were promised skill-building workshops and cultural exchange events, but the agenda could not accommodate their expectations.

Enagement barriers

  1. LOCAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. Climate activists and delegates could not engage with the people of Egypt to understand how they are affected by climate change and to assess their understanding of this crucial issue.
  2. INPUT. Global Youth Statement on Climate Action was written and finalized before the conference. It was not presented during the event, which made many youth delegates question the whole point of hosting the event. The statement was published a few days later during COP27. It was surprising that neither transportation nor road safety was one of the key demands, as we have tried to influence and put in our presentation and networking discussion.
  3. INTERGENERATIONAL DIALOGUE. For COY17, no decision-makers attended the event, only at the opening ceremony. All sessions were 100% youth-led, but there were no intergenerational panels or discussions between youth and officials.
  4. FOLLOW-UP. There seems no mechanism to sustain the connections between the delegates after the event and youth risk to be ignored in future climate-focused events.
 

OUR PARTICIPATION and RECOMMENDATIONS 

 
 

I had the honour and the responsibility to represent the Global Youth Coalition with El Khalil Cherif, the SDG13 Champion, to deliver a session titled: Safer Roads Towards a Climate-Proof future, where we presented to youth delegates from different countries the latest policy brief that links road safety with climate action. Youth were surprised to learn that road crashes are the leading cause of death among their peers and were keen to include the recommendations of the policy brief in the Global Youth Statement. 

How do we, as a youth, contribute to solving the climate crisis if this injustice and non-inclusive participation mechanisms are not effectively addressed? 

So we came up with some recommendations based on the work done and our expertise on road safety and sustainable mobility:

  1. Create inclusive and meaningful participation mechanisms that involve youth networks and organization work on climate, sustainable mobility and agenda 2030 issues, as recommended by the final declaration of COP27, which said that children and young people are agents of change in responding to climate change.

  2. “Meaningful youth participation means that young people’s experiences, ideas, expertise, and perspectives are systematically integrated into programmatic, policy and decision-making institutions” - Policymakers’ Toolkit.

    Meaningful youth participation is a long- journey; YOURS has launched a  Policymakers toolkit, with the support of the FIA Foundation, to offer policymakers evidence-based best practices to systematically integrate meaningful youth participation into policy design, implementation, delivery, and accountability for road safety and sustainable mobility. 

  3. Youth need support in all shapes and forms. Investments are needed to make it possible for ALL youth to participe. We recommend sponsorships, logistical support and a space to speak up and be part of the global negotiations towards a green future for all.

There are 5 Steps that we recommend following to promote MYP:

 
 
 
 

  1. Forming relationships, understanding the youth community profile and building trust with youth groups. 

  2. Building the foundations for meaningful participation by identifying challenges and barriers, developing strategies to overcome them, and understanding different mechanisms youth want for participation.

  3. Establishing meaningful youth participation as a process within the community to prevent backlash and foster understanding.

  4. Youth Meaningfully Participating in defining proposals for road safety interventions that contribute to addressing climate change. 

  5. Strengthening participatory processes and relationships with youth by monitoring and evaluating chosen interventions.

Next year, COY18 and COP28 will take place in Dubai, UAE and so many hopes are built to have more concrete actions to respond to the pressing climate challenges and prioritize road safety and sustainable mobility. As Global Youth Coalition for road safety, we are ready to contribute. Are you joining us?

 
Sanaa Khasawneh