Here's what young COP26 attendees have to say to world leaders about climate change

Image: ABC

Young environmental activists from around the world gathered at the annual United Nations Climate Conference, or COP26, to express their dissatisfaction with the hurdles to entry into environmental activism and the difficulties in gaining a place at the table."

If I had something to say to our leaders, it would definitely be, 'Take responsibility, not only of your actions but of your position,'" 18-year-old Mexican climate activist Camila Gonzalez told ABC News.

"We have left our future in your hands and for you to actually fix something, you have to be held accountable," she continued.

Gonzalez shook her head no when asked if she thought young people's voices were being heard.

"We are definitely not only not given a voice, but not even a vote," she continued. "At the end of the day, our representation here is purely tokenistic."

The young activists warned that their generation will be the ones to suffer the repercussions of climate change, and they urged international leaders to listen to them since they will be the ones to come up with answers in the end.

"I feel like we should be at the center of the negotiations because all the decisions that are made around us, we are the ones that are supposed to come up with innovations," 27-year-old Zimbabwe native Jean-Bertrand Mhandu said.

The activists also discussed the disadvantages of ageism in the climate action area, as well as older people's limited access to funding.

Publish : 2021-11-06 07:12:00

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