Sahil Yar Muhammad
As the curtains rose on the 28th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also known as COP-28, we witnessed history. On the very first day, states party to UNFCCC agreed to a Loss and Damage Fund to help weaker states who have a small carbon footprint but are disproportionately affected by climate change.The tidings of the Fund came at the previous COP and it only materialized this year. As important as this development is for climate affected states, states with large GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions must seriously consider moving away from fossil fuels as a source of energy. Significant contributions of GHG to the atmosphere is greatly a result of burning fossil fuels for energy. Climate change analysts and environmentalists are quite adamant on that point. In recent times, the issue of climate change has sprung forward because of the rapid changes happening around the world. According to Ahmed Rafay, an environmental lawyer based in Lahore, emissions since the industrial revolution started centuries ago account for less than 50% of GHGs in the atmosphere. The remaining emissions have been added to the atmosphere after 1980. We have added more GHGs to the atmosphere in the past 43 years than in the past three and a half centuries. This is something we all have to ponder collectively and find a solution. Climate will not harm us on the basis of nationality, race, religion, creed, and ethnicity. Climate change respects no boundaries. That is why this matter needs to be addressed seriously if we are to keep the rise of global temperature restricted to 1.5? instead of the more than 2.0? it is expected at the current time. It is no use delaying debate and action on this matter because climate change is a reality whether we want to accept it or not. Young climate activists have greatly contributed to the rise of awareness among the general population. Platforms should be provided to young people to develop themselves and argue the case of climate change more effectively. Platforms such as the recent Model OIC (MOIC) Conference on Climate Change held in the Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) are effective methods to not only help young people learn but also express their opinions. The MOIC is a mock version of an OIC conference where states debate, formulate working papers, and pass resolutions and declarations. In a formal OIC conference, an official underscored the importance of including the voice of young people at these forums. The recommendations of an MOIC will be forwarded to OIC by the Foreign Office of the respective state. These recommendations can then be discussed in an official OIC session of member states and approved if the session finds that the recommendations can prove helpful. The Model UN and MOIC model can be replicated for COP as well; a Model COP (MCOP) of sorts sponsored by the UNFCCC and held in its member states a few months before the actual COP. This will allow the input of young climate activists, scholars, and students in the most important conference on climate change. Ideas coming from vibrant young minds can prove most helpful in combating climate change. Being a part of the MOIC, I witnessed firsthand how young minds are a treasure trove of innovative and inspiring ideas. However, these ideas are lost in the vast space between the young lads and the officials in power. A platform to get these ideas straight to the top will work wonders in combating climate change. It is the children and young who will live in this world 10 years from now, a 100 years from now, it is only right that they have a say in matters that directly affect their future.
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