They will be the eyes and ears of young climate advocates.
About a hundred French people, aged 18 to 25, have been selected to participate in the COP26, which begins Sunday, October 31.
In Glasgow, they will observe the negotiations and be the voice of civil society.
Among them, Titouan, Leïla, Gabin and Loreleï.
All four are students and active members of environmental defense associations.
If all share a certain pessimism about the results of this meeting, however presented as "crucial", they are unanimous: it is important to be there, and all want to pass on what they will have learned during the COP upon their return. .
Leïla, 23, wants to "carry the voice of young people"
"We can not wait any longer," insists on France 24, Leïla Cartier.
The objective of this 23-year-old student is clear: to give a voice to COP26 and to make the voice of civil society heard as much as possible among the negotiators.
"Global warming is a key issue. We can no longer let the leaders disengage," she insists.
Sensitized to the climate issue since high school, Leïla began to mobilize during her business studies through several student projects. Among them, precisely, workshops linked to the COP with simulated debates. Last January, she decided to strengthen her commitment and become a volunteer with CliMates. Among the missions of this association: raising public awareness of global warming, advocating with the media or sending young people to major climate events every year.
"At the beginning of September, I was given the task of coordinating the delegation going to Glasgow," explains Leïla. In total, Leïla and seven other people are part of the team; four French and four foreigners - from Mali, India, Nepal and Haiti. "A hell of a puzzle with the pandemic," laughs the young activist, "but it's important that there are as many young people as possible." On site, they will share the tasks, sailing from meeting room to meeting room, participating in conferences, meeting activists from all over the world. All this will then be the subject of articles for all.
In addition to this duty of information, the young woman hopes to have the opportunity to challenge as many negotiators as possible.
It does not exclude, moreover, a punch operation.
"The majority of associations like CliMates will take the same train to go to Scotland. It is not impossible that we coordinate an action at that time", she specifies.
>> Global warming: "young people will suffer more disasters than their grandparents"
Titouan, 22
years old:
"The COP will be used to meet the actors of tomorrow"
When asked what he expects from COP26, Titouan Rio, 22, does not hide his defeatism.
"Today's leaders have already missed the boat. In terms of negotiations, this meeting will certainly not be of much use," he laments to France 24.
For this student in information and communication and president of the association Jeunes ambassadeurs pour le climat, the stake of the COP is outside the discussion rooms, in all the informal exchanges that will take place around.
"For me, it is above all the opportunity to meet the actors of tomorrow in the fight against global warming. Those who will really make the difference," he explains.
"The most important thing is all the synergies that we can create together."
Titouan is, however, impatiently awaiting an official meeting: November 5, a day dedicated to the mobilization of youth.
"The YouNgo collective will give the conclusions of the pre-COP youth organized in September," he explains.
"But above all, this will be the time for us to speak up. We just hope that diplomats and scientists will be there to listen to us."
Despite everything, the young man will carefully observe the negotiations.
"We will learn as much as possible. Try to understand the limits. With a single objective:" Use it to review our interventions on our return and, above all, prepare our action for the next COP. "
For Gabin, 20, "the COPs must continue to exist"
Gabin would almost be a regular at COPs.
Already present in Madrid in 2019, he will be in Glasgow from Sunday 31 October.
From his first experience, this political science student remembers "the effervescence", "the frantic pace" and the "multiple conversations in front of the stands of civil society".
But he also remembers the mixed feeling felt on his return to Paris, between euphoria and frustration.
"All these meetings with members of civil society from around the world give us a lot of hope. There is immense emulation. We realize what each can do concretely, on his own scale," he recalls.
"But we also see the reality of the negotiations with the bitter impression that states are totally disconnected from reality."
It is moreover after this experience, convinced more than ever of the need to act at the local level, that Gabin, already mobilized in several associations for the defense of the environment, embarked on a new adventure, political this time around. Since March 2020, he has been a nature and biodiversity municipal councilor for the small town of Mennecy, in Essonne. "I have always been passionate about politics and convinced of the need to act for the climate. I decided to combine the two."
For this COP, "my approach is not at all the same", he admits. "In 2019, I was idealistic, and a little naive. I wanted to change the world. I wanted to participate in collective actions to make the voices of young people heard, I wanted to challenge our leaders," he says. "Today, I want to be as close as possible to the negotiations. I want to understand what is happening during these discussions and where it is blocking."
"Concretely, I do not think that this COP26 will be the solution. There is no reason to hope that it will be more effective than another", admits the young man.
"But I remain convinced that this space for discussion between States is essential and that we cannot do without it."
Upon his return, the student will return to his studies with the hope, in the long term, of being one of the actors in this climate diplomacy.
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Loreleï, 22, behind the scenes of the French delegation
At 22, Loreleï Lankester is one of the two young French delegates to the COP. In 2020, this master's student in Political Sciences and Environment at Sciences Po was selected by the Ministry of Ecological Transition to support the French delegation in the negotiations for two years. Confined to videoconference meetings for several months because of the health crisis, she will participate in flesh and blood in a COP for the first time.
"Our role is to lend a hand to the delegation throughout the duration of the COP26. We can go in the place of the negotiators to certain events, follow the debates on a particular question, help to write reports", details the young woman, with France 24. "We also have access to discussion loops on the negotiations ... We are really at the heart of the action."
For Loreleï, the objective was above all to "discover the wings of diplomacy". "You always have the image of a bunch of white fifties around a table. I wanted to see what it really looked like and, above all, understand where things are stuck on the climate issue." And to arrive in Glasgow prepared, it took hours and hours of cramming. "At the beginning, it is very difficult to follow the discussions. There are a lot of acronyms and jargons to know ... Fortunately, the negotiators are educators and answer our questions."
A few days before the opening of the event, the student still wants to be optimistic.
"I want to believe that things can really move forward during this COP. The very fact that many leaders are moving for the opening is an encouraging signal," she underlines.
"But to think that everything could be sorted out now would be unrealistic."
His wish ?
"That, soon, the COPs no longer serve to negotiate between states but to organize the implementation of concrete measures on a global scale."
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