(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Ayeni Olusegun |
The Peninsula
Doha: Youth from the Middle East, the Arab world and the Global South should be empowered to drive climate change, and sustainability challenges in the region, Executive Director of the Arab Youth Climate Movement Qatar (AYCMQ) Neeshad Shafi said.
He was addressing the Historic Cambridge Union Society at the University of Cambridge Climate and Sustainability Forum 2022.
The two-day forum titled 'A Climate Reset' sought to reset and recalibrate responses to the climate crisis.
Speaking at the event during the 'Decolonising Climate Responses' session, Shafi said,“In order to analyse climate justice, more light has to be shed on the participation of youth from the Global South, including the Middle East — one of the worst impacted regions by climate change in guiding how decision-making processes predominantly unfold in international politics.
“We need young people from countries in the Global South to share their perspectives, not just Global North youth narrative. We need an inclusive youth climate movement, but without having a collective and representative voice, the whole movement will collapse.”
Shafi told the forum that the current dominant notions of climate activism and movement are often based on Western ideal theories, which tend to create colonial structures. He said this formula neglects the lived experiences of young people already affected by climate change in the Middle East and Global South.
“Climate change is a 'collective action problem' in which we disregarded actors who continue to depend on the efforts of major greenhouse gas emitters and states to coordinate measures for decarbonisation. Hence, it is central for tackling climate change to ask who has access to negotiations and how participation in regional and global climate events is organised,” he added.
It is worth mentioning that climate change and environmental degradation directly impact social and economic dynamics, as well as pose a risk to national and international security.
Commenting on how climate actions and awareness can become more region-centric, Shafi said though climate change is a global issue,
the knowledge, measures and way forward to mitigate and adapt to climate is different in every region.
“We need our global youth climate movement and activism to understand our difference and diversity. Only through understanding long-term systemic inequalities and differences can we address a wider network of intersecting injustices and co-create transformational solutions to mitigate climate change. We need to emphasise creativity and diverse voices from the Middle East and the rest of the Global South in sustainability, centring intersectionality and looking outside the Western narrative,” he stressed.
The AYCMQ is Qatar's foremost independent, non-profit, and non-governmental environmental organisation. The organisation is currently undertaking a household carbon footprint initiative in Qatar.
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