As young people speak of military, economic and fossil occupation, Sultan al-Jaber says he is “confident that something special can happen”.
Last updated 9 December 2023
On the day negotiations resume at Cop28 in Dubai and on the day dedicated to young people and their future, dozens of young members of the Fridays for Future movement took part in a silent protest "walk".
Because one cannot "march" here, inside the Expo City of the United Arab Emirates. Nor shout slogans outside the designated spaces. In the speeches that preceded the walk, young people from various continents turned attention to all those parts of the world currently under military or economic occupation. They emphasised how the right to land and the right to health (including mental health) are essential issues in the fight against the climate crisis. With clear references to the situation being experienced by the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip: "Today I stand before you to speak about the dangerous intersection between two devastating crises: militarisation and climate change," said a young woman originally from Palestine.
"I speak on behalf of the forest, carrying the love of our ancestors and our families. Of all of us who live in the Amazon: there is no climate justice without justice for those among us who defend the Amazon," echoed a young man from the movement who had come from Ecuador.
"In my country there is a project that wants to begin exploiting 27 new oil fields, many of which are located inside the rainforest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but no one talks about it," concluded a young man from Kinshasa.
Meanwhile, negotiations have resumed and within the latest draft of the final document, released today – 8 December, which is intended to form the stocktake of what the COPs have achieved so far, but above all of what still needs to be done to save ourselves from the climate crisis, all the options relating to a phase-out — that is, bringing the fossil fuel era to an end — remain on the table.
This paragraph of the draft summarises all the various possibilities:
The last option, "no text", is as "normal" as it is alarming when one considers that there are only a few days left until the end of Cop28 and the possibility of reaching an agreement within the scheduled timeframe is looking increasingly remote. And matters are further complicated by the fact that Opec — the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which the United Arab Emirates is a member — has explicitly asked delegates from member countries to reject any document that directly attacks fossil fuels.
But president Sultan al-Jaber ventures an exceptionally optimistic forecast: "Something special is about to happen at this COP." We all hope so.
