“You Can’t Stop Us”

• 

  Helen Eker

  climate and energy editor-in-chief

Several thousand people from different countries and continents demonstrated at the climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. They shouted slogans such as “We are not defeated”, “You cannot stop us” and “No climate justice without human rights”.

The Sharm-el-Sheikh summit will last two weeks, as have previous climate conferences. In previous years, such as last year in Glasgow, large protests have taken place over the weekend, with tens of thousands of activists marching through the streets.

This is not the case in Egypt. The right to demonstrate has been restricted by the government. And according to Amnesty International, you must register in advance if you want to demonstrate. The idea is that this deters militants.

Unlike previous years, today’s event remains entirely within the conference grounds. It spans several well-protected halls, large tents and open spaces in between. During the summit, it is officially the territory of the United Nations. The UN guarantees the safety of the militants, beyond that there is no guarantee. This does not make the protesters any less combative. Who are they and why do they act? Three portraits.

“In my country, there is a lot of deforestation and the land is becoming less fertile due to the increasing heat. We recently had landslides after heavy rains, which killed people and destroyed houses. 29 years old and I work a lot with women and children They notice that the climate in Cameroon is changing We are happy that the summit is now in Africa I think Africans should speak up and make sure they are listened to.

For the solutions that need to be put in place in Africa because of the climate, it is the inhabitants themselves who must act. Give money to Africa, and let Africa do its own research and point out the problems it faces and let it implement the solutions itself.”

“It is difficult to make our voices heard here. It took more than twenty hours to get here to Sharm el-Sheikh. I am 25 years old, I studied anthropology. Fortunately, today we were able to campaigning for the first time. Rich Countries must take responsibility. Japan must also pay, so that other countries can adapt to climate change. Japan has emitted a lot of greenhouse gases, and it this is why we must act, also for other countries in Asia.

I am personally very concerned about the climate. Japan is an island. There are more and more heat waves and many people who work outdoors have already fainted from the heat. Hopefully they will succeed here at the climate conference in limiting warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees.”

“I am joining the protest because it is good to protest with other young people from all over the world. I am 29 years old and I work for a youth organization. I represent the region where I come from, in the northeast of Brazil In my country there is a lot of talk about cutting forests I am very happy that we recently have a new president Under his predecessor Bolsonaro there has been a lot of deforestation in Brazil, which is bad for the climate .

Under his successor, Lula da Silva, we hope that will stop. We will definitely put pressure on him to do so. I hope that in the years to come many more young people will make their voices heard at these kinds of climate conferences, even if it is difficult to achieve this.”