Tyrell Gittens, CCJLA’s COP29 delegate, environmentalist, and journalist from Trinidad and Tobago, and Leyla Hasanova, COP29 Youth Champion speak on why youth voices are important.
The United Nations climate change summit, COP29, begins tomorrow (November 11) in Baku, Azerbaijan, a nation nestled between western Asia, eastern Europe, and the Caspian Sea. It bears more similarities with the Caribbean than first meets the eye. The impact of climate change on our environments, economies, and peoples highlights the reach of the crisis and underlines the need for collaboration towards shared climate adaptation and mitigation goals.
For us as COP29 Youth Climate Champion from Azerbaijan (Leyla Hasanova), and an environmentalist and journalist from Trinidad and Tobago (Tyrell Gittens), the distance and differences between us make for an ideal partnership as we head into the conference in Baku. Dubbed the ‘Finance COP’ for the emphasis on new climate finance goals set to be negotiated, the COP29 presidency is also keen to make this a COP that provides a platform for small island developing states (SIDS).