One of the main focal points of this year’s C40 World Mayors Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina was the creation of the first ever global network of city youth climate councils. However, the C40 Cities’ attempt to target the youth through the “climate crisis” miserably backfired when youth delegates left the summit to protest global mayors in attendance.
The C40 World Mayors Summit flew in 30 international youth leaders and invited 30 youth leaders from Argentina to make the grand announcement alongside the ten C40 mayors that were in attendance from across five continents. Youth delegates spent their time partaking in panel discussions, press conferences, and listening to forums about how cities across the globe can drastically reduce carbon emissions by 2040.
We cannot simply force the next generation to pick up the pieces—young voices must take centre stage in our conversations around the climate crisis.
It was inspiring to spend time with the C40 youth delegation. I fully support their urgent call for green jobs. pic.twitter.com/xiMq6vAx1O
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) October 21, 2022
The goal of the formation of the youth climate councils is to “facilitate the political empowerment and engagement of young climate leaders in local decision-making to transform the world’s cities into green and fair metropolises,” according to Claudia Lopez, Mayor of Bogotá and C40 Vice Chair for Youth Engagement.
However, in a shocking turn of events, a group of youth delegates decided to leave the summit and partake in a protest against the C40 World Mayors Summit and joined a large left-wing group called Movimiento Evita Caba that was protesting outside the convention center in the streets of Buenos Aires on Friday.
During the protest, youth delegates told Rebel News that they decided to join the protest because they were told that the summit was going to be centred around the youth, but they were hardly paid attention to. They slammed international mayors for failing to act on climate change and said their presence at the summit was “all for show.”
“They’re coming here to make a statement that they care about the south governments, the south countries, the global south, but I don’t think that’s happening,” a youth delegate from Argentina told Rebel News.
Their criticism stems from this year’s summit being centered around climate justice in South America, where C40 Chairman and the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced that C40 Cities would be investing $1 Billion in South America to help finance climate projects in order to transition to a green economy.
But the youth delegates remain skeptical and believe that they will leave South America behind in the fight for “climate justice.”
TUNE IN: C40 Chair @MayorofLondon @SadiqKhan closes out the #C40Summit, where commitments towards creating green jobs, financing projects in Global South, transitioning towards clean energy, and building a better, inclusive planet were made. https://t.co/bHqFIkf817
— C40 Cities (@c40cities) October 21, 2022
For more of our exclusive reporting on the C40 World Mayors Summit, go to C40Summit.com.
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Author Katie Daviscourt
