Climate Voices

November 9, 2022
By: Dana Ahmed

‘If we are here solving the climate crisis, we can figure out the bus tracks!’

‘If we are here solving the climate crisis, we can figure out the bus tracks!’ - Photo

‘If we are here solving the climate crisis, we can figure out the bus tracks!’

This is what one of the youth delegates said during a group meltdown due to our confusion with the bus tracks of Sharm El-Sheikh on our way to the COP27 venue. 

I arrived at my hotel room at 11:20 PM. After three long flights and witnessing a man get stuck to his airplane chair, forcing an ambulance to come and completely extract the entire chair from the plane, I was jetlagged, to say the least. 

Although all the way through my journey to Sharm El-Sheikh, and the countless ‘Welcome To COP27’ signs, banners, and airport announcements, I was constantly being reminded why I do what I do. For my kids, grandkids, parents, and the communities I represent who are relying on my project to have their voices heard, but most importantly, my Grandad, who continues to inspire my work and be at the center of all my aspirations. Being born and raised far from my home country, Egypt, he made sure I appreciated our history and represented our people everywhere I go.

This is why I felt a mix of nervousness, fear, excitement, and pride, which made me incapable of processing anything that night. Instead, it was mere chaos and blur until I reached the Children and Youth Pavilion at the Blue Zone: the first youth pavilion by youth, for youth, with youth. It was the opening of the pavilion, and the place was completely flooded with youth delegates and policymakers on the panel, who were stressing how vital this moment is in the climate action field for youth. 

It was monumental having to speak to Dr. Omnia Al Omrani, the COP27 envoy for youth, who sat in the middle of the panel and advocated for youth solutions to be heard at higher-level panels and by the executives and governments at COP27. Soon afterward, we headed to the World Health pavilion, where I saw the beauty of art and creativity connect with the climate and health crisis for the first time.

The lung sculpture at the pavilion was symbolic of the climatic impacts on human health. 

Particularly, when you touch the branches anywhere in the sculpture, you feel the weak pulses of an ill person in pain. The sculpture is in memory of Ella Roberta Adoo Kissi-Debrah, a 9-year-old girl who passed away in the UK, and the doctors have listed her death as a direct result of air pollution. In the panel, it was highlighted how health is at the center of the climate crisis, and how that is the way it should be presented during COP27, and beyond.

I resonated with the statements the panelists made due to my work with EcoSpectrum, where I witnessed first-hand how such vulnerable communities are at the frontline of the climate crisis, and yet there are no insurance, mitigation, or security actions being pursued to protect their lives, especially in Africa and the Middle East.

Although in those events, I was surrounded by a vastly diverse group of people that had their own communities, countries, and people whom they wanted to raise awareness and call for action for, almost every person I spoke to made sure their focus this year was on Africa and youth struggles within the region. Before coming to COP27, I was fearful that African and Middle Eastern voices may continue to go unheard, but I was proven wrong. Although I made sure to include the Egyptian people and the experiences of the vulnerable communities I work with, particularly those who are not as privileged to be at COP, in every conversation I had today, it was gladdening seeing my people being represented everywhere I went, and even more satisfying knowing how youth climate activists are compassionate and considerate of the struggles of communities that are far from their own. 

It felt that climate justice may not be too far to reach after all, and though it’s too early to conclude, the youth may really be ‘solving the climate crisis,’ or at least on the right track to do so. 

Although we have a long way to go, and COP27 has only just begun, I’m excited to see what else is on the agenda for youth, and what other successes we may witness this week!

Dana Ahmed

Dana is a Law and Politics student involved in youth participation and ecosystem preservation matters. She conducted research on the impact of youth on achieving the SDG’s and the extent to which gender correlates with waste production in MENA and presented her findings to Egypt’s National Renewable Energy Authority.

She’s a member of IRENA’s Youth Forum and was a youth delegate in the ninth and tenth assembly sessions. She’s Egypt’s contact point in the SDG7 constituency group, an outreach officer at the MENA Youth Network, and the youngest and only Arab member of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance Youth Policy Advisory Council serving as Secretary and Representative of Egypt.

Dana is passionate about members most affected by the lack of urgency in the climate crisis, and has thus founded EcoSpectrum, the first app in the world that aims to elevate the inclusivity of youth on the spectrum of autism in climate and ocean conservation discussions.

Dana is one of Climate Generation’s Window Into COP delegates for COP27. To learn more, we encourage you to meet the full delegation and subscribe to the Window Into COP digest. You can support our delegates at COP27 with a financial gift today!