Three-day local conference for youth on climate change kicks off |27 August 2021

The panellists during the Youth Driving Ambition Panel Discussion (Photo: Jude Morel)

The three-day hybrid Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) event aimed at informing, and giving to the youths of Seychelles a voice with regard to the development, challenges and solutions to the climate crisis, officially kicked off yesterday morning.

Held at the British high commissioner’s residence and virtually, the event has been organised by Seychelles Youth for Climate (Y4C) delegates Victoria Alis and Jeremy Raguain, with the support of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Energy, the Ministry of Education, and the British high commission.

Over the course of the three days, organisers hope to bring together, engage and interact with 150 youths aged between 13 and 35, and to produce a report which captures their experiences and views, and which will serve to help the Y4C delegates better represent Seychelles at the Pre-Conference of Parties (Pre-COP) event in September and the Y4C event in October.

The delegates also hope to establish a committee to keep youth up to date with Seychelles’ efforts in battling climate change beyond the event, in addition to producing a Youth Climate Position Statement.

The Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Energy, Flavien Joubert, addressed the delegates virtually, and commended the youths for having the initiative to organise such a programme for fellow youths, in light of the worsening climate crisis, and the boost that youths can give to global climate action.

“Young people, the impacts of climate change are intensifying over time, and it is you, the children and the young people of today who will face the worse effects tomorrow. But far from being passive victims, young people all over the world have begun to fight back on a scale never seen before. Here in Seychelles, we are seeing more and more active engagement and participation in the fight against climate change. Let me remind our youth that you are not preparing to lead the world tomorrow, but you are already leading us today,” Minister Joubert stated.

Yesterday’s programme saw the physical participation of students from the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals). During the Youth Driving Ambition Panel Discussion the panellists were senior policy analyst at the Ministry Elissa Lalande, chief executive of the Seychelles Climate Change Adaptation Trust (SeyCCAT) Angelique Pouponneau, Commonwealth National Climate Finance Adviser Kai Kim Chang and senior policy analyst for Water and Climate Change Sophie Morgan.

The youngsters took the opportunity to highlight the challenges they feel they are facing in actively participating in the fight against climate change on the local front, and how they feel as though their voices are often drowned out. They proposed that policy-makers and non-state actors find means by which to engage with them, and to keep them informed continuously on the latest developments, and how they can make valuable contributions, in line with national and global efforts.

“This event is really an opportunity for Seychellois youths to really engage with individuals and experts who work directly in climate change policies and strategies, climate action and climate negotiation, as well as individuals who work on national documents. They also have the opportunity to even clarify their concerns or questions in relation to climate change.

“The aim is to after this event, produce a report to consolidate the concerns and views that the youths of Seychelles have. We will then send the document to YOUNGO, under which the event is organised. The report will help us to better represent the youth’s views and concerns in Italy, at the Pre-COP-26,” Ms Alis explained.

YOUNGO is the official youth constituency at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). Looking beyond the international conferences, Mr Raguain acknowledged the urgency in continuously keeping the youths engaged in going forward.

“I think the report that me and Vicky are reading and review with a new focus, is one in which we have observed, in fact even before when we were consulting, we were told that the problem is that youths had not had the chance to participate due to the Covid-19 pandemic, because of the time constraints and complex procedures.

“But, as Dr Chang noted, the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) is the first step, but there is verification, monitoring evaluation where youths can ensure that what was put forward actually happens, and they can also add or criticise this as well. This is really important. This is why when we approached the DCCE, we committed to, one, engage all, produce the report to reflect their views for YOUNGO, but to also have a LCOY Organising Team to do this annually, so nobody is left behind, and to ensure continuity and that the youths have a voice and that they also have access” Mr Raguain noted.

Laura Pillay