• #ClimateofChange is a European awareness project involving 16 organisations, led by the Italian organisation WeWorld. Its aim is to develop the awareness of young EU citizens about the link between climate change and migration, and to engage them in supporting global climate justice.
  
• Five young European women were selected to receive training on the climate crisis and take part in Cop27. They were the ambassadors of a petition – still open – that gathered more than 100,000 signatures against global warming and for the protection of climate migrants.
• The five activists were attending a conference of the parties for the first time and came back with different impressions of their trip to Egypt. Meeting peers committed to the cause around the world was a great source of inspiration, they say, to keep fighting and build a small piece of change.

Is half an agreement better than no agreement at all? Is a mediocre result better than no result? This question arises at every major international conference – on whatever subject. And so it did in Egypt when the outcomes of Cop27 were tallied: a historic agreement was reached on the loss and damage fund, but no progress was made on cutting emissions.

Compromise is the foundation of major negotiations, as the five young activists we met in Milan before they left for Cop27 – their first experience of this kind – are well aware. Enthusiastic, prepared, focused on their goal: to deliver a petition with more than 100,000 signatures to promote effective action against global warming and the protection of climate migrants.

Who the activists are

Kamila Ciszewska, Ema Hristova, Paloma Abril Poncela, Fanny Kiss and Penny Dalkou are all under 25 and come from Poland, Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary and Greece. None of them is an environmental scientist or anything of the sort; they study international relations, public administration and even classical philology.

Two years ago they took part in a debate tournament on the climate crisis that led to them being selected for the #ClimateofChange project, the European communications campaign – run by 16 organisations and led by the Italian organisation WeWorld – which aims to develop the awareness of young EU citizens about the link between climate change and migration, and to engage them in supporting global climate justice.

The five students then underwent lengthy training on a range of topics – from lessons on climate and advocacy to a trip to Kenya to witness first-hand the effects of the ongoing crisis – before arriving at Cop27 as representatives of the group of young Europeans who wrote the petition and gathered more than 100,000 signatures (it is still open, for anyone who wishes to sign it).

It so happened that those selected for the #ClimateofChange project were five young women; the application had been open to everyone. It may be a reflection of the many prominent young female figures who animate the debate on the climate crisis.

None of them mentions Greta Thunberg during our conversation – the notable absentee from this Cop27 – but as a source of inspiration they name Ugandan activist Patience Nabukalu, who campaigns to give a greater voice to people from the areas most affected by global warming.

What they did

The five set off for Sharm el-Sheikh eager, above all, to meet other young people like themselves ━ more than to shake hands with politicians and institutional representatives ━ and to channel this urgent need to be heard, shared with activists around the world. On their return they confirm that their expectations were right: the greatest inspiration came from discussing things with their peers and hearing stories of local activism to draw from.

As Kamila Ciszewska recounts: "We were proud of the speech given by Paloma and Fanny at the conference we attended to present our petition. They got straight to the point. It was a shame that no European Union representative ended up coming to listen to us, as we had been promised."

Ema Hristova also expresses a feeling that is hard to put into words: "I'm coming home with a certain measure of hope, but I've also formed the impression that real change doesn't happen at these summits, where everything seems to have already been decided elsewhere. The fight against the climate crisis is a difficult commitment: it has to start by listening to the people who are living through this crisis first-hand. At Cop27 I saw for myself the power of action that is unleashed when many individuals push towards the same goal. That is why I remain convinced that, if everyone makes their own small contribution, we can build real change."

Fanny Kiss is the most critical on returning from Egypt: "I hadn't imagined that companies would have such a central place at Cop," she says. "It was crucial to exchange ideas and opinions with other young people from around the world who, through their commitment, are making a difference at a local level. We talked about our petition; they talked about other initiatives we can draw inspiration from. And on the last day I left with a strange suitcase full of a mixture of hope and resignation. If these activists become the future politicians who will sit at the negotiating tables, I think we can achieve great things. But they must preserve the spirit I saw at Cop27."

It is not easy to be twenty years old today and hope for change. The activists and their peers are growing up in the age of permacrisis – permanent crisis – chosen as the 2022 word of the year by the Collins English Dictionary. It seems like a definitive label, one that makes it impossible to see a solution beyond the horizon crowded with problems, difficulties and ever-negative circumstances.

And as the next host country of Cop28 is announced – Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, the world's seventh largest crude oil producer – all that remains is to repeat the words of Nelson Mandela, the same words with which Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, concluded his opening speech at Cop27: "It always seems impossible until it's done."