Sorbonne Abu Dhabi Youth COP United Global North-South – News

The initiative will involve students in simulated negotiations to prepare a joint paper to be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference

Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy at the SUAD Youth COP. – Photos provided

To give young people a voice in climate action, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (SUAD) has launched SUAD Youth COP, an online webinar bringing together more than 700 participants from 85 countries and participants from the global North and South Climate Leaders Group.

To ensure that youth perspectives are part of the development of climate policy in the UAE at COP28, the initiative will engage students in simulated negotiations to prepare a joint paper to be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai later this year.

Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Chairman of the University Board, emphasized the importance of empowering youth and the role they will play in global transformation.

She highlighted the UAE’s commitment to COP28 and to engaging youth in the process, and appointed Shamma Al Mazrui, Minister of Community Development, as COP28 Youth Climate Advocate.

The University’s event is organized in partnership with Université Paris-Cité, France; Universidad Federal do Cerea in Brazil and YOUNGO, the official youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Professor Silvia Serrano, Vice-Chancellor of the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, noted that, as a multinational, Emirati-French institution of higher education, the university is in a key position to engage students and youth around the world in dialogue to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Key speakers from the North and South included Ignacio Ibanez, EU Ambassador to Brazil; Juliana Alves, Secretary of State for Indigenous Affairs, Ceará, Brazil; Sabra Noordeen, Special Envoy for Climate Change, Maldives; Environment and Sustainability, Côte d’Ivoire Yao Marcel, Senior Advisor, Development; Jay Shah, Liaison, YOUNGO/UNFCCC Adaptation Working Group; and Eduarda Zoghbi, Senior Advisor, Student Energy.

The webinar highlights the role students and future generations must play in addressing climate change. Panelists emphasized the importance of supporting those regions most affected by the phenomenon of climate change, particularly the global South, which is now a reality for many.

The SUAD Youth COP is an initiative organized by Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi as part of its Go Green 2023 and aligned with the UAE Year of Sustainable Development and COP28.

Youth COP aims to engage students from around the world in discussions at COP28 through simulated negotiations, where students will prepare an ambitious and comprehensive paper addressing pressing topics around oceans, loss and damage mechanisms, and energy transition. Approximately 25 groups , each group of 75 students will collaborate in negotiating activities on climate-related topics. Selected students will develop a joint document that will become “Sorbonne Abu Dhabi University’s Call to Action for Future Generations”, which will be presented by the two winning teams at COP28.

Registration is open until June 8th. To register and learn more, visit: https://gogreen.sorbonne.ae/activities/suad-youth-cop-march-december-2023/