- COP30 in Brazil drew youths from around the world who are experiencing climate change effects in different ways and working to mitigate the crisis in their communities.
- Mongabay spoke with young representatives from Gabon, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Germany and Brazil during the November conference in Belém.
- The youths found mixed results at COP30, with some progress made on the technical side, especially in transparency, adaptation metrics and certain aspects of loss and damage; while issues like phasing out fossil fuels, securing predictable climate finance and ensuring a just transition faced significant pushback.
- German Felix Finkbeiner, who, at 9 years old, created the organization Plant-for-the-Planet, noted, “When young voices come together at conferences like COP30, they inspire hope, innovation, and accountability, reminding the world that change is not only necessary but possible.”
There is a certain delay in nature — so says a metaphor that refers to the natural time of environments in responding to human actions. It attempts to explain that often, positive or negative environmental impacts are not necessarily immediately visible. The climate crisis we are experiencing today is a consequence of past choices. (Scientists call this “climate lag,” the time between when greenhouse gas emissions are released and when climate change effects occur — up to 20 or 30 years.) The same will apply to the future: The world of the coming years is being built now. And representatives of the generation that will live with the effects of today’s choices — young people — are participating in this construction.
Youth from around the world involved in environmental and climate causes gathered in November in Belém, a city in the Brazilian Amazon, to participate in COP30, the Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. Each was in Brazil to observe and contribute to the negotiations and decisions that will directly affect their future. These young people hailed from countries in the Global South and North. They were of different ages and with diverse experiences, but they shared a common desire: to ensure that the world will be a livable and sustainable place in the coming years. Unlike today.
“Today we have our city called Port-Gentil, our economic capital, which is threatened with disappearing within 50 years according to some experts because it is being engulfed by waters that keep rising,” Loïc Moukagni-Mounguengui, a 26-year-old from Gabon in Central Africa, told Mongabay during an interview in Belém. Moukagni is the executive director of the NGO Sustainable Development and Well-Being and he went with colleagues to COP30 as a representative of Gabonese youth.
In addition to rising sea levels, Moukagni also says that Gabon is suffering from changes in the seasons, which directly impact agriculture. “The climate is completely disrupted. … As a result, many seeds are also disappearing while others are infiltrating, causing some small disturbance,” he says.
According to the Sustainable Development and Well-Being website, the NGO develops environmental education initiatives for young Gabonese people, as well as promotes good environmental practices and professions related to sustainable development. Its members also campaign against the degradation of Gabon’s forests, mangroves and coastal areas, and for the responsible management of natural resources.
Gabon is just one country and Moukagni just one youth who exemplifies the experience for many young people today. Although separated by 10,000 kilometers (more than 6,000 miles) in a straight line, the young Gabonese shares similar experiences to those of Tan Yin Yi (who goes by Henry), a 24-year-old man from Malaysia who also came to Brazil to participate in COP30.
Despite living on different continents, climate change creates similarities between Moukagni and Henry, as both of their countries are affected by extreme weather events. “Malaysia experiences floods, heavy rainfall, and landslides, particularly in hilly and rural areas,” he told Mongabay via text message.
Henry was in Brazil representing Universiti Malaya, where he is a final-year civil engineering student focusing on climate-resilient infrastructure and sustainable design, “exploring how engineering can strengthen communities against environmental challenges,” he said. He also represented Malaysian youth networks, in collaboration with Malaysia’s official delegation, the Malaysia Pavilion, and the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate, or GAUC. “Being here in Belém feels meaningful; it’s an opportunity to learn, share, and bring the voice of Malaysian youth into the global climate space,” Henry wrote to Mongabay during the conference.
Another youth group represented at COP30 was Bengali Jasmima Sabatina, a 23-year-old woman from Bangladesh who currently works as the contact point for loss and damage for the Official Children and Youth Constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (YOUNGO). In Brazil, she represented YOUNGO and Daffodil International University, where she studies environmental science and disaster management.
“We are facing an increase in water salinity, and this increase directly affects the coastal community. It affects their livelihoods, their agriculture, reproductive health and childhood diseases. So, there are a large number of people directly affected by climate change [in Bangladesh],” Sabatina told Mongabay during an interview in Belém.
She also spoke about the funding crisis for countries in the Global South. According to Sabatina, Bengali youth present their projects and proposals but do not receive transparent feedback from investors. “So, there is a lack of some project implementation but we have lots of experts, lots of people who are actually working, and I must say we have a huge youth network and youth in climate action. So, Bangladeshi youth are very much aware and very much willing; they are actually working in the climate sector,” she said.
An example of how youth-led projects and organizations can be innovative and transformative for the world is the story of Felix Finkbeiner. The 28-year-old German founded the organization Plant-for-the-Planet when he was only 9 years old, in 2007. “What began as a simple idea has grown. Today, I co-lead a team of 100+ people across 11 countries, advancing forest restoration and developing innovative digital tools like FireAlert and TreeMapper to help organizations worldwide finance and monitor forest restoration projects,” he told Mongabay via email.
Finkbeiner has been attending climate conferences for more than 15 years, since COP16. At COP30, his priority was to follow agendas related to rainforest finance and other rainforest issues, especially the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). Plant-for-the-Planet recently launched TFFF Watch “as an independent TFFF transparency tool and watchdog,” Finkbeiner said. “We advocate for a German investment into the TFFF. …. Generally pushing for improvements to the model, particularly around issues like the exclusion list, degradation definition, indigenous direct access.”
The climate crisis is global and cross-border, affecting all ecosystems. Therefore, while some defend forests, others defend waters, transforming the protection of nature into a collective effort. Erleyvaldo Bispo dos Santos, founder and CEO of the Resilient Waters Institute, is a 28-year-old Brazilian from the state of Sergipe. According to him, the institute originated from his experience growing up in the Agreste region of Sergipe. This area acts as a transition zone between the coast and the interior of northeastern Brazil. Located in the Caatinga biome, it suffers from water scarcity.
The institute “was born from the experience of a survivor, because I am a survivor of water scarcity and lack of sanitation,” he told Mongabay via text message. According to the project’s website, the institute develops projects such as Águas Mil, a water collection system intended to promote water justice for Quilombola, Indigenous, riverine, marginalized and rural communities. “We began developing it in 2018 and since then, it has undergone several improvements. This year, we won the Youth4Climate award, led by the Italian government and UNDP Rome,” Bispo dos Santos said.
In the middle of the road
Worldwide, today’s youth live in the middle of the road: between what the world once was and the uncertainty of what it will be. But it is in this uncertainty that voices such as those of Moukagni, Henry, Sabatina, Finkbeiner and Bispo dos Santos come together to build a future that is different from the present. The path, however, is neither easy nor simple.
“Mixed” is the word Sabatina and Henry used to describe their feelings after COP30. For the young Malaysian man, “while the negotiations struggled to deliver a strong, unified commitment on fossil-fuel ambition, there was clear progress in implementation, adaptation and regional cooperation.”
As for Sabatina, the conference showed some progress on the technical side, especially in transparency, adaptation metrics and certain aspects of loss and damage. However, she also pointed out that “politically, the negotiations struggled. Issues like phasing out fossil fuels, securing predictable climate finance and ensuring a just transition faced significant pushback.” The uncertainty, then, remains: While progress has been made in certain areas, others still require considerable energy — and actual effort.
But COPs, according to these young people, are still fundamental spaces for advances in the climate agenda. Finkbeiner told Mongabay that although the decisions made at COPs make relatively little difference on the ground, at certain times, it is because of the conference that major advances are achieved. “The Paris Agreement and the NDCs that result from it are an essential tool in holding states accountable. I expect this year’s TFFF is another major victory. We will know for sure, when the mechanism is fully funded and when key details of its implementation are decided,” he said.
Although COP30 has ended, the climate crisis continues. The 31st edition of the Conference of the Parties will take place in 2026, and until then, the planet will most likely continue to experience extreme weather events that affect different regions and populations around the world. If the climate crisis is cross-border, then cooperation to solve it must be, too, and young people can be part of that. According to Finkbeiner, “When young voices come together at conferences like COP30, they inspire hope, innovation, and accountability, reminding the world that change is not only necessary but possible.”
Banner image: Twentieth edition of the Conference of Youth (COY), which precedes COP30 and also took place in Belém, Brazil. Image courtesy of Tan Yin Yi.
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