Activists “have no illusions” | TTELA

None of the UN climate summits have yet been a tipping point for the climate. At least not according to Anton Foley, who is involved in the organization Friday for Future. Not even the Paris Agreement because it is not binding, he says.

– Hope in people and with the movement that is getting stronger day by day. That’s why we’re at the COP and we’re proving it – to show that people have power and that we can change if we go together.

a lot of young people

The demonstrations to be held in Glasgow on Friday and Saturday this week are expected to be huge, and many of the participants are young and old. But Anton Foley cautions against portraying the crisis as a generational issue. Rather, he believes that it is a matter of rich industrial countries versus poor countries.

Some countries do things that benefit themselves but affect others. It is not the poor old people of Kenya who have caused this crisis, but they are suffering far more harm than I will ever do.

Anton Foley would like to lead COP 26 to decisions on, among other things, annual emissions reduction targets, unbreakable binding targets, and specific targets in line with scientific knowledge and with a view to global justice.

– It is good if you can dream. But we have no illusions that this will happen.

to rely on

Scout Agnes Hgwartsburg, 19, is also in Glasgow. She believes that it is important for young people to act immediately and show that they must be reckoned with.

– It’s about our future. If we do nothing now, we will not be able to live in the future we perceive.

She and four other Young Scouts with a leader on site as observer delegates.

We are on site to show politicians that we see what they are doing and also hope to be available to countries that don’t have enough representatives to negotiate.

COP26 is not only about who is there, but also about those who are not. Many countries hard hit by climate change are not represented in the negotiations because it was not easy to send representatives to the UK Climate Summit.

Agnes Hjortsberg hopes the politicians at the meeting will do all they can to deal with the climate crisis.

If we lived in a dream world, the goals they set would be binding. But due to international politics, this is unlikely to happen.

A clear youth movement

Sweden has two youth representatives at COP26. They were tasked with serving as the Voices of Youth megaphone in Sweden’s official delegation, to ensure that young people’s perspectives were included. At the same time, they must communicate what is happening at the meeting to youth organizations.

Amanda Burkesell, 25, is one of the elected representatives. She believes that the youth movement is clear in its position on the necessity of adhering to the 1.5 degree rise and in its demands for action.

– That’s the big thing you wish for. Then you can be more or less realistic about how much is actually decided in the meeting, but hope is an attitude for me and not a goal picture, and I’m quite optimistic.

“Unbelievable strength”

She believes that climate peaks are necessary to bring the nations of the world together to make decisions.

– – There are some countries that have representatives of young people in their delegations, but there is also the great mass around which shows and manifests itself. She says the parts reinforce each other very clearly.

Amanda Burkesell describes climate as the defining issue of our time. But she says there is a danger of so-called youth washing, in which politicians try to legitimize their promises by trying to show they are listening to young people, even if they don’t really take what they say.

– – When it comes to climate, hope is sometimes added to concerned young people. It obviously gives hope that young people are committed, but it is also a burden on young people to be the bearers of that hope, when there are others who actually have real strength to do something.