Sharm El Sheikh – Watching a rerun of Brazil’s TV Globo’s late show Altas Horas, Thalita Silva, from the east side of the city of Manaus, the capital of the state of Amazonas, got to know Engajamundo, a youth leadership organization working on socio-environmental issues. Today, at her second United Nations Climate Conference (UNFCCC), she arrived as a land, popular education, and Amazonian youth activist. Pictured above (left to right), Daniela Cruz, Bárbara Pereira, and Thalita Silva.
Thalita is 25 years old and has a Biology undergraduate degree from Brazil’s Literatus College. Born and raised in Manaus and living in the largest suburban area of the capital of Amazonas, Thalita says she has always experienced the impacts of environmental racism, but she did not realize it existed. “The neighborhood I live in is not even on the maps, so issues such as sanitation, infrastructure, and violence, have always been very present in my life, but I had no idea this was a debate about environmental racism and climate change,” she told ANBA at COP27.
After watching the Altas Horas show, Talita, who did not have an internet connection at home, wrote down the organization’s website and, the following day, in her technical school, signed up to participate. “That’s where I started. Through Engajamundo, I traveled, left Manaus for the first time, and made my first international trip. I discovered a world we usually do not have access to because there are few opportunities,” she said.
Representativeness
Engajamundo brought 19 teenagers and young adults from different regions of Brazil to COP27. The participants include indigenous, black, people from traditional communities, and rural areas of the country who act locally and take the knowledge acquired in these major events and climate guidelines to their communities. “The issue of climate and climate change is very elitist, and populations historically more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change have other demands; for survival, which have increased in recent years, such as poverty, hunger, and lack of sanitation. The climate seems to be a subject very distant from the reality of these people,” said Thalita, who also observed there is little representation in spaces such as the COP.
To remedy this problem, Thalita said she works with popular education, absorbing knowledge from the COP and transforming it into a more accessible and democratic language. “Especially for these [more vulnerable] populations, because they are the ones who will and are already suffering directly from the impacts of the climate crisis,” she said. Her first COP was in 2018, COP24, in Katowice, Poland.
Bárbara Pereira is 26 years old and comes from the city of Santo Estevão, in the countryside of the state of Bahia. With an undergraduate degree in Energy Engineering from the Federal University of the Bahia Recôncavo (UFRB), she is a national articulator of Engajamundo, where she has been working for three years. She also volunteers at the Brazilian Network of Women in Solar Energy (MESOL). Her leading causes are energy and gender equity within the energy sector.
Participation in COP27, for Bárbara, is vital to take this information and communication to where it does not usually reach. “Our role here is to understand what is under discussion and bring this knowledge to our communities,” she said. Barbara said this is her first international trip, and she is thrilled to be in Sharm El Sheikh not only for her activism but also as an energy sector professional.
For her, energy and climate go hand in hand. “You cannot think about energy without thinking about climate and climate change. The renewable energy sector, where I work, is driven by climate demands; we see the entry of solar, wind, and other renewable sources came from this climate demand,” said Bárbara. The engineer says the sector is primarily male, and her role is to raise some provocations. “Why aren’t women part of these discussions? Why aren’t women working in this sector? After all, half the population is female,” she said.
According to Barbara, the few women in the energy sector are predominantly white and from the Global North. “And we know the black population, along with the riverine and native people, are the most affected by climate change, also because of the economic and geographic issues,” she declared.
Losses and damages
Barbara said European countries, impacted by the energy crisis resulting from the war between Russia and Ukraine, could have a more active role in dealing with climate issues at this Climate Conference. However, when the subject is the financing of losses and damages, a unique topic in this COP, the woman from Bahia noticed the developed countries are dodging the issue in the discussions she participated. “Adaptation and loss and damage need funding, and nobody wants to foot the bill, so these matters are likely to drag on for a while,” she explained.
Generally, African countries and small oceanic islands are the most impacted by climate change and, consequently, most in need of damage financing. “The tragedies are already happening, and they will worsen. So how will this population survive without this aid, without anyone wanting to take on this responsibility?” asked Bárbara.
Daniela Cruz, from the city of Itabi, in the interior of the state of Sergipe, has a forestry engineering undergraduate degree from the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS) and is 29 years old. She works on gender and climate activism issues and is an election strategy manager of Engajamundo. She is also a volunteer at Empoderaclima, a youth organization from the Global South addressing the impacts of climate change on women.
Like Bárbara, this is also Daniela’s first international trip. “It is important for us to be in this space, taking part in the discussions,” said Daniela about COP27. In Sarm El Sheikh, she attended meetings and Al Gore’s speech for youth. On being part of Engajamundo’s election strategy, the woman from Sergipe said the work this year was intense, with actions for young people to register to vote and turn up at polls, showing how they can articulate, organize and change their reality, communities, cities, and states.
Youth Pavilion
COP27 is the first edition of the climate conference to have a youth pavilion, which brings together teens from all over the world to discuss climate issues. “People enter the pavilion and recognize each other. The COP space as a whole is not designed for young people, so that place is where we can meet and connect with youths from other continents with different experiences who are also there fighting the climate crisis, so it is a very welcoming space, the most welcoming in the COP,” observed Thalita.
Hope
And what do Brazilian youth expect from COP27? Bárbara, Thalita, and Daniela hope to see Brazil return to a leading role in the climate discussion and the country present a new Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“I really hope Brazil’s reputation improves and the country becomes more ambitious in the fight against climate change,” said Thalita. “Brazil had always been a protagonist, and we want it to return to that position, call upon other countries, put itself as a leader, and become a voice to unite, not to divide,” said Bárbara.
Engajamundo was created in 2012 and is reaching ten years of commitment with Brazilian youth in global debates on climate, sustainable cities and communities, biodiversity, and gender issues. They also have innovation and communications laboratories. The trips are paid for with fundraising and public notices. Today, Engajamundo operates in 18 Brazilian states and the Federal District.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
