Mara Gilan from Romania at COP27 in Egypt: To give a voice to young people and an opportunity to stand up for themselves

Climate activist, global youth ambassador for Global Alliance of Universities on Climate

This year's COP27 climate summit in Egypt will bring together tens of thousands of participants and more than 100 heads of state to discuss efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and ways to cope with a changing climate.

COP stands for the "Conference of the Parties." meaning those countries that signed onto previous UN climate agreements.

Discussions at this year's COP will revolve around four main topics: mitigation, adaptation, finance and collaboration.

Officials have urged countries to commit to plans to further reduce emissions and meet the Paris targets of limiting warming levels to "well below" the 2°C mark, with an aspirational target of 1.5°C. Studies show that warming beyond 1.5°C would have calamitous consequences, such as the potential disappearance of warm water coral reefs worldwide.

Reports published in the run-up to COP27 show the world is currently on course to warm between 2.6 and 2.8°C (5.04°F) by the end of the century, absent further emissions cuts.

Mara Gillan from Romania, a climate activist and Global Youth Ambassador for the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate, attended the COP27 climate conference. We had this interview with her.

How can the youth help climate change move forward in a positive way?

Youth have the motivation to take much more ambitious actions. We have an intuitive and deep understanding of just how important it is to manage and mitigate the climate crisis, because we are the ones who will suffer the consequences of today’s action. More opportunities need to be presented to the youth to enable them to take action and be a part of the decision-making, and this needs to be backed by actions and not just words. Just as there is “greenwashing”, I think there is also “youthwashing” where young people are invited to participate but their voices are not genuinely taken into consideration. So, youth need to be involved in the decision-making process and the implementation process.

Tell us about your organization and what it is doing.

The Global Alliance of Universities on Climate was founded in Davos in 2019, and 15 universities have joined the alliance since then. This year, we launched the Climate Leadership Program, where we had 100 young ambassadors have weekly trainings with experts in the field of climate action. We also launched the ClimateX campaign because climate is a complex issue that is related to several issues. You can’t treat climate alone. We treat climate from a few different perspectives. First is climate and finance and business. Second is climate and food, agriculture, and biodiversity. Third is climate and adaptation and resilience. It is important to tackle all these issues together.

Could you discuss the issue of finance when it comes to climate change?

I don’t think the money is enough; it’s a multi-faceted issue. It’s a problem of climate injustice. Those who contribute the least are those who are affected the most. The biggest emitters need to cut their emissions. Do no more harm. Stop fossil fuels; make the green energy transition in a just way. Secondly, we are already experiencing the consequences of climate change, so the issue of loss and damage is essential to this problem, as well as adaptation and mitigation efforts. Finance makes or breaks the work that lies ahead. If there is no finance, then nothing can happen. Finance is needed for swift action, because climate change is a human rights issue. The intersection between climate change and human rights needs to be taken seriously and explored much more in the current debate, which is not something I’m seeing so far.

How does your organization see the issue of taking action towards climate change rather than just talking about it?

The framework for action already exists. There’s not much negotiation that needs to happen; what needs to happen is action. We are addressing a letter to world leaders to call for action and youth empowerment. We are asking for the opportunity to play this important role in the implementation of our futures. It’s also important to have a global approach and to be integrated. People from developing countries need to be represented not by someone else but by themselves. Much of it comes down to finance. As youth climate activists, we need to push decision makers to take action.

What kind of initiatives are there for youths?

I’m organizing a pavilion for youth and children next week to talk about how to advance human rights and nature-based solutions, and we’re devoting part of the time to biodiversity finance. Many of our speakers are youth, and 70% of our speakers are African. We are looking at solutions and innovation, and to promote this further and to give a voice to young people and an opportunity to stand up for themselves.