Addressing climate change from youth parliamentarian perspective: 8th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians kicks off in Sharm el-Sheikh

CAIRO – 15 June 2022: The 8th World Conference of Young Parliamentarians launched in Sharm el-Sheikh Wednesday, under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and in cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Scheduled to be held on two days, the conference will include a total of four interactive sessions attended by young parliamentarians, representatives of civil society organizations and experts, to discuss climate change issue, and its impact on human rights issues.  

Empowering youths necessity to combat climate change

In the opening session, Parliament’s Speaker, Hanafi Gabali welcomed the convene of the conference, saying it represents “a forum for the future industry.”

“Empowering young people has become a necessity that cannot be postponed and part of decision-making,” he added in his speech.

He continued saying, “The Egyptian discourse towards the phenomenon is based on establishing the principle of joint responsibility to save our planet.”

The Parliament’s speaker referred to Egypt’s National Climate Change Strategy 2050 to achieve sustainable economic growth based on maximizing energy efficiency and diversifying its sources, adding that “Egypt is keen to engage in all international efforts aimed at facing the repercussions of climate change. the climate.”

In his speech, Gabali said that the Egyptian state has paid a great attention to climate change issue, which made the Egyptian discourse is based on the principle of shared responsibility to preserve the environment.

Duarte Pacheco, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, expressed his pride and gratitude for participating in the work of the Eighth Conference of Young Parliamentarians in Sharm El-Sheikh, stressing that Egypt has done everything in its power to send a message of peace and security to the world through this generous hosting.

Pacheco sent a message to young parliamentarians, saying: "You have to believe that you are the basis of the action plan and the hope of our peoples in order to achieve a better future." Noting that what the COP27 conference in Egypt addresses in terms of solutions to various issues is based on the pivotal role of young parliamentarians.

Sustainable agricultural food systems

Dr Dhanush Dinesh, Founder of Clim-Eat, an organization concerned with food and climate change, called for the implementation of environmentally-friendly systems and the dissemination of ideas that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and hinder the effects of climate change.

Danush Dinesh, during his speech at the first session of the conference reviewed the results of a climate report from thousands of papers, noting that awareness of the scientific aspect is the most prominent way to avoid climate change, specifically sustainable agricultural food systems.

Dinesh called for “focusing on the ideas of conflicts and migration, pointing out that there is a close link between climate change and the intensification of conflicts around the world.”

“We have clear evidence of this, in addition to the significant impact of climate change on the world’s economic growth, as climate change reduces growth rates, and we must prepare for this challenge. Among the effects that we clearly notice are the decline in agricultural production, and other consequences that affect the quality of human life,” Dinesh said.

He explained that there is a direct impact of climate change on different types of agricultural crops and food security, noting that the change will lead to a loss of more than 15 percent of agricultural production, and other severe effects related to food security.

He added that to avoid this “we must follow many innovative practices and activities in irrigation, digitization of agricultural products, securing the transfer and access of water resources and establishing transparent mechanisms for setting strategies, monitoring implementation and evaluating results by parliamentary entities.”

Impact of climate change on human Rights

During her participation in the conference, Sarah Menkara, General Adviser for the Rights of Disabled People around the World in the United States, said that “a large proportion of the world's population suffers from physical disabilities, and is more vulnerable to climate crises than the average person, as a result of their disabilities.”

“We are here today to find creative solutions for people with disabilities to confront climate change and its impact,” Sarah Menkara added during her speech at the first session of the World Conference of Young Parliamentarians in its eighth edition.  

She further explained, “They should, first of all, include them with all services and facilities, because this brings value to everyone, and supports the stability of society, as all things around us are affected and affected by climate change.”

Menkara also spoke about the impact of climate change on people with disabilities, describing their lives in light of the difficulties they face as "staying in a city exposed to a hurricane without the ability to catch lifeboats."

Egypt's will to reduce negative impact of climate change

The conference is witnessing an extensive participation of parliamentary delegations from more than 60 countries, as well as delegations of international observer organizations.

It addresses the issue of climate change from a youth parliamentary point of view, which represents the first time that a country has held a separate parliamentary conference months before hosting the session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27).

This demonstrates a sincere Egyptian will to crystallize an organized and just global effort at all governmental and legislative levels in order to combat climate change and its negative repercussions threatening the capabilities of the entire world.

The conference constitutes a unique dialogue case towards the issue of climate change in all its dimensions and levels, as it is considered the most prominent issue globally and the most threatening to the planet, its resources and capabilities.

The topics of the conference will include the state of climate change and its impact on human rights, parliamentary action to combat climate change, and partnership between civil society and parliamentarians to combat climate change.