I’m finally back at home, COP was a very fun and wild experience.
It is disappointing to see some of the decisions that were made after all the negotiations, but we will continue to fight for what needs to be done for our planet, animals and our people to survive. I’m grateful that I was given the opportunity to be put into such a space and meet such amazing and outstanding activists and organizers, all around the world.
I made connections that I’m so excited to follow up on and see what work we can collaborate on in the future. I’m excited to hopefully visit some of the people I’ve met, going where they are from and to learn all about their lives and their work in a more in-depth way. I enjoyed spending time with my delegation and all of the interesting people along the way. This is truly an unforgettable experience.
I wish better things could’ve been produced from the negotiations, but in the zones we were in it felt like real change was happening. As a community of activists, we all came together to enact change. Lots of us had very long journeys to attend and to return back home.
Even though we’re exhausted, our collective work won’t stop.
I’m excited for all these new collaborations to try to make our future better!
I am an environmental justice and social justice activist and advocate. I am 20 years old and have been doing this work since I was 14. I grew up in North Minneapolis, a heavily environmentally impacted community. We have the highest asthma rates in the state, we are a heat island and have the highest concentration of low income black and brown people. I joined Youth N’Power 5 years ago. Since then I have learned how to do community organizing in my Community, North Minneapolis through the imperative lens of environmental justice. I care about serving my community and making intentional relationships with others. I continue to learn and grow my personal and collective knowledge around environmental justice, community organizing, and communication. At Metro Blooms, another organization I’m involved with, I do community engagement and focus on planting trees, rain gardens, and boulevard bioswales to help improve the air quality, water quality and soil quality in North and South Minneapolis.
Makayla is a Climate Generation Window Into COP delegate for COP28. To learn more, we encourage you to meet the full delegation and subscribe to the Window Into COP digest.