![What’s the Youths’ says? – Part I]()
by admin | Jan 3, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015, UNFCCC, YOUNGO
Areeya from Thailand
“My name is Areeya. I work for an environmental NGO in Thailand named TERRA. We monitor Thai investments in neighbouring countries in the Mekong Region and campaign to promote understanding of trans-boundary impacts and rights of the communities to protect their natural resources, livelihoods, and posterity.
I came to Paris hoping to witness the global movement of the people, to find youth voices that speak about climate change and hope that their stories would inspire Thai youth to be interested in climate change. At the moment, many communities are losing their lands to extractive industries. Fishers folks are fighting against coal-fired power plant proposals.
Indigenous communities are at the forefront to protect the forests and their communities from being taken away. Extractive industries and especially coal induce climate change and pollute our soil and water–the basic ingredients for food security.
The forests are part of the natural ecosystem to recycle and absorb carbon, yet they are being cut and the communities who have been living in and protecting the forests–their homes–are being chased away. So, I believe that these are climate change induced disasters.
We (my organization) are not directly monitoring COP or the negotiation; however, we monitor energy policy to help our campaign against large dams and coal-fired power plants. It’s a good news to see Thailand submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) which inserts a 20-25 percent decrease of nation’s greenhouse emission. It shows that it pays attention to take part in the climate negotiation and our prime minister also spoke before the members of COP21 about Thailand’s plan. I do not know much about Thailand’s adaptation and mitigation plan. Nonetheless, if we look into another document: Thailand’s Power Development Plan, we see that it aims to add in 57,459MW in the next twenty years and many projects include more coal-fired power plants and hydro dams, especially in Thailand’s neighbors in the Mekong Region.
At the moment, (the youths’) interest in climate change is still primitive. Many groups are aware of climate change but I personally do not know many who actively advocate on this issue. Thailand did not send any delegate to participate in YOUNGO or the official youth delegation.”
– Areeya from Thailand
Kuan-I from Taiwan
“I am Kuan-I, Lee from Taiwan and I am an auditor in KPMG. The two main issue in my country that caused by climate change would be the extreme weather, especially typhoon and air pollution caused by deforestation and the exhaust emission. My organization, Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition (TWYCC) hold several workshops and Taiwan Power Shift to raise the awareness of the civil society and especially for the students and the young people. We are also one of the most positive teams in Taiwan to join in the COP and become the bridge between local and global communities.
Quite a lot of youth are interested in the environmental protection issue or energy conservation and carbon reduction, but the lack of whole picture on climate change is a problem. Youth have a much more ambitious goal and determination. It is probably what the delegates in UNFCCC need, for they may compromise with rather unambitious standard due to the pressure from certain sectional interests.
A series of COP21 documentary sharing events are organized, and we have already prepared 10 videos of different topics, including COY, human chain, red line march and the voice of youth.”
– Kuan-I, Lee from Taiwan
Kristina from Japan
“I’m a student in France, Sciences Po, studying law and political science. I represented Japanese youth in COP21 as a member of climate youth Japan. I have been participating and organizing COP21 simulations around the world in 2015, so my initial purpose was to follow negotiations and compare with what we’ve done, but I ended up also learning a lot from the side events.
Interestingly even though Japan is an island and is supposed to be affected a lot by the climate change, we don’t hear much about the climate change induced disasters. I have read minor news how the agriculture in Japan (especially rice) is being affected by it (lower amount). We are doing our best to influence and improve government policies(we submitted opinion papers to three ministries – economics, foreign affairs and environment) but I think our most important purpose is to increase the awareness among the youth.
We should organize youth NGOs better through YOUNGO. It’s a very huge organization but since this COP was my first one I felt excluded and could not make the best use of it. We are thinking of organizing a climate march but I am not sure when. I really think we need to share the analysis of the paris agreement among the world youth!! and we need to come up with the solutions how the youth can contribute to the IMPLEMENTATION”
– Kristina Yasuda from Japan
Bellinda from Malaysia
“I’m a fresh graduate, my purpose of attending COP21 is to be the UNICEF Climate Youth Ambassador representing Malaysia. In my opinion, we can increase the Malaysian youth participation in UNFCCC by encouraging and ensure the active participation locally – e.g. participation in activities at their particular region, by going on the ground and organizing activities for youths at their particular area/region.
After cop, we plan to expand our work and maybe organize some activities at other different area/region in Malaysia so that more youths can participate and aware of the climate change issue.”
– Belle Bellinda from Malaysia
Yu-Cheng from Taiwan
“I graduated from Keele University majored in International relations. Now I am looking for a job in the PC company. Typhoons, flooding, drought, mudslide, sea level rising and dengue fever are the major climate change induced disaster in Taiwan.
One of the strategy that Taiwan government took to address the issues is by passing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Management Act in June.
I believe the youth should have the right to participate in the high-level negotiation meetings and be able to intervene directly (in UNFCCC process).
We completed the Youth Delegation Interview Program and participated in the discussion of Asian Youth Climate Netwok Declaration during COP21.
I have also joined the Climate Global March, Health Central to Climate Change Action (Monaco & Health and Environment Alliance – HEAL) when I was in Paris “
– Yu Cheng, Chang from Taiwan
“I am now studying in Master in International Relations and European Studies, I went COY because I wanted to get some incite/ information about climate change related policy/ ongoing works before the start of COP21, it is valuable for me as I planned to work on climate change in the future.
In Hong Kong there is more higher average temperature, causing longer and hotter summer with heavier rainfall and more unexpected extreme weather like heat waves and fluctuation in temperature, typhoon and rainstorm which affects a lot in traffic and daily life in Hong Kong. Climate change also threatened the deep-sea species due to alternation of circulation pattern of regional ocean.
Youth participation and motivation are not strong, nor the coherence of climate change related youth group. Young people will discuss among us, but there is no concrete platform for us to join some campaign or take actions against the climate change issues. ”
– Yau Hing Yu
Interviews done by Elaine
![A Special CAN Daily]()
by admin | Jan 3, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015, UNFCCC, YOUNGO
CAN sticker
The Climate Action Network (CAN) is the Environmental NGO (ENGO) network in the UNFCCC. It has different daily activities such as the Fossil of the Day and the CAN Daily Meeting.
To enter the daily 2.00pm meeting, you’ll need a sticker proving that you are a CAN member. They even have a “sticker check” which the attendees will have to show before the meeting commences. I like the exclusiveness they have over there.
The meeting usually starts with updates from different work groups, followed by some strategy planning such as messages that we, as a network, want to deliver to other stakeholders such as ministers, negotiators and investors. The planning and guidelines look really awesome because it is detailed and comprehensive. Although the CAN members are from different organisations all over the world, they still cooperate and work together, and share information from different events to create a holistic view of the whole COP21.
The “Fossil of the Day”(FOTD) nomination will be closed at 2.30pm everyday. “Fossil of the Day” is an “award” for the country or countries that is/are reckoned to be blocking the progress of the climate discussion. So after several agendas, the CAN members will announced the nominated countries and reasons of them being nominated. The agenda on reporting and sharing will continue after that while a huddle (a small group debate) often be conducted outside of the room in order to pick the Fossil.
I joined one of the huddles during COP21, the one where the members discussed about crowning Malaysia as the “Ray of the Day” (opposite of FOTD) *excited*. From the discussion I get to know different views about Malaysia. The main reason of Malaysia being put forward for this honour is that the Malaysia voiced on behalf of the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) to urge the French presidency to increase the transparency of the negotiations by allowing civil society members to observe the meetings.
Some people supports the notion because they think that it will be a good way to “condemn” the exclusiveness of the French presidency and to push the Secretariat to be more democratic and get the NGOs involved. However, there are also some points opposing that idea: Malaysia suppresses media at home, it did not protect their mangrove properly, forests are given up for palm oil industry, it was voicing on behalf of LMDC and lastly, giving out a Ray for civil society’s own sake will ruin the credibility of the FOTD/ROTD.
In the end, Malaysia did not get the Ray; nevertheless it was lauded in an ECO (Newsletter published by CAN) article and walked away with a Honourable Mentioned in the “Fossil of the Day” ceremony.
I felt very proud when Malaysia was nominated to receive the Ray of the Day because it meant that Malaysia’s voice was remarkable and praiseworthy. I learnt that not only the effort in the international platform is important to have a good image, the endeavour in our own land plays significant role to leave a good impression. Seeing the CAN members who voiced out their opinions confidently with supporting facts during the huddle encourage me to be one of them in the future. I hope I can be knowledgeable enough to comment someday.
Written by Elaine
![A Skype session with Leonardo da Vinci High School, Potsdam, Germany]()
by admin | Jan 3, 2016 | MYD2015, UNFCCC, YOUNGO
Students from Leonardo da Vinci High School, Potsdam, Germany.
We “scuttle” our way to YOUNGO room to have a skype session with a group of high school youths from Germany!
I panicked and became anxious as I stared at my brightly lit laptop screen. I did not know what to share. Thoughts that were running in my head.
My experiences at COP21? I think everything happened in the blink of an eye. My first week was somewhat confusing owing to many negotiations and side events were occurring concurrently, there were just too many things to focus on at one time. I was excited but was quickly drained out as well.
Nonetheless, I am glad that we were able to have a quick conversation with the high school youths. They inspired me with their enthusiasm and curiosity; a strong desire to learn something. For me, it is the curious mind that inspires humanity; to transcribe dreams into reality. With curious mind, born the vision to build sustainable dreams on this ever so realistic earth.
Sharing some of my COP21 experiences here:-
- COP21 – encompasses of UN team, negotiators, civil society organizations and youth! Youth are the catalyst. They are the one that can help to fill the gap and build a network that connects and holds stakeholders together. These actions can be direct, i.e. MYD member recent participation in giving interventions on behalf of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) during SBSTA Closing Plenary or subtle i.e. MYD members direct engagement with some of our Malaysian negotiators throughout the whole COP21. Throughout the COP21, MYD has organized several impromptu meetups with our negotiators and Malaysian CSOs to strengthen the bond and to understand the UNFCCC process.
- Climate mobilizations do make an impact! At COP21, YOUNGO is an official youth constituency under UNFCCC. Youth from various organizations including MYD members are given the opportunity to participate their daily meetings and action working groups to coordinate mobilizations actions in COP21. Thanks to their consistent lobbies along with other CSOs in COP21, strong scientific evidences and pressures from the vulnerable countries throughout negotiation processes; the world manage to set new REAL temperature targets in the latest adopted Paris Agreement – to limit the global warming by 2 degree Celsius and aiming for 1.5 degree Celsius.
- Active Climate Actions all year round! If you want to make a change, it requires persistence. You need to keep pursuing what you believe with sensibility. Every great work sparks from your own desire to explore. Then, your choices to search for like-minded people or projects within your community
MYD team was formed in June 2015 and we were given 6 months of preparatory journey to COP21. Throughout the 6 months, MYD has successfully organized a training series with various experts from various backgrounds (e.g. climate scientists, Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, climate journalists, CSOs, policymakers, etc) at Malaysia. We also proudly produced and submitted our Youth Statement on Climate Change towards COP21 to our Prime Minister. As a team, we are able to establish our presence at local, regional and international climate events such as Power Shift Malaysia, Asean Power Shift at Singapore and Conference of Youth (COY11) at Paris.
These are just several experiences we have thus far. For post-COP21, MYD members are ready to engage and share their COP21 experiences with their people back home in hope to educate the public and raise another team of youth to understand climate science and policy as well as the infamous UNFCCC process.
In my opinion, effective teamwork and continuous engagement with all stakeholders intergenerationally are essential in order to make bigger impacts on combating climate change.
Hence, thank you students of Leonardo da Vinci High School for giving us this opportunity to share our experiences with you via Skype and vice versa. I hope we can hear more from our readers too! If you have any climate initiatives’ experiences / collaborations you want to share with us. Email to us powershiftmsia@gmail.com and we are happy to engage!
Written by: Jolene Journe Tan.
![Asians out of Asia – Amalen]()
by admin | Jan 3, 2016 | MYD2015, YOUNGO
Whilst at COP21, I had the pleasure of organizing the ASIAN meet up. I met so many different people from different walks of life and a variety of movements they are fighting for. Talking to these people has been eye opening and inspiring, to see the different problems other countries face and how they solve them.
Here’s a little info on some of the people I have met.
Bindhu Bandhari from Nepal
Bindu Bhandari from CliMates and Tunza Eco-generation
Myself Bindu Bhandari, youth campaigner aged 23 from Nepal. Being from one of the most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change despite contributing less than 0.1% of global emissions, I have realized many youths in my country have no idea about climate change and the vulnerability. So, I have been working with different national and international organizations to sensitize youths in different areas of Nepal about climate change.
I was accredited as an observer for COP21 by CliMates (International think and do tank for climate change). My objective was to build a network with youths around the world fight climate change, learn their best practices and share my experiences. The main reason for attending COP21 was to live the atmosphere of diplomatic negotiations and share the experiences with youths in my country and generate ideas of how to highlight the issues of youth inclusion in such high level conferences. My goal at COP21 was to track the negotiations and follow the commitments/status of least developed countries in the negotiation.
From COP21 I have learnt that where there is a will, there is a way and everything seems impossible until it’s done, as said by legendary Nelson Mandela. I learnt the techniques of ideation to implementation of any projects by interacting with youth change makers and officials of different organizations around the world. Moreover, I realized the crucial role of social media in building solidarity and synergy for any mission/goal. Of course the most amazing moment was when the text was adopted at COP21. I really loved Fossil of the Day event at COP21.
‘Meeting other Asians in COP21, do you think Youth from your country is under represented? ‘
I am much concerned that the youths from my country are under represented in COP21. I was the only girl observer from Nepal, though there were some females in governmental delegations. It reflects that youth participation esp. girls are lagging behind in getting space for such high conferences. I view that government should be pushing and addressing gender equity, ensure arrangements for including youth delegations with the governmental delegation so that a youth inclusive voice is represented at COP.
‘What’s next? ‘
I have been working on COP IN MY CITY project of CliMates for the last 3 years. It is a global project, simulation to bridge the gap between international negotiations and youths. As not every youths can gain accreditation to attend COP, this simulation gives of a touch of how the atmosphere of COP feels like.
Do check out Bindhu’s work and progress via her social media :
Twitter: @Bindu_Bhandari
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/bindu.bhandari.5
Instagram bindu_bhandari
Sohara Mehroze Shachi from Bangladesh
Sohara Mehroze Shachi from Global Climate Change Alliance, GCCA.
I am a graduate of Yale University, currently working at UNDP Bangladesh on climate change, disaster management and environment. I was selected from 2000 applicants to be one of the 11 climate tracker youth fellow for COP 21.
Being a citizen of one of the most climate vulnerable nations of the world – Bangladesh – and seeing first hand the plight of thousands of climate refugees moving to my city Dhaka has played a big role in increasing my concern about climate change and motivated me to do something about it. And I believe the best way I can make a contribution is by spreading awareness on climate change mitigation, adaptation and finance through my writing. As such I have published articles on these issues on various publications including DW, Huffington Post, EcoWatch, OpenDemocracy and IPS.
I went to COP 21 as a Climate Tracker Adopt a Negotiator youth fellow to write articles in various publications on the negotiations and the myriad impacts of climate change on millions around the world.
As part of my Climate Tracker fellowship team, I analyzed the draft agreement texts multiple times and gained a thorough understanding of the various provisions of the agreement, specifically the climate finance segment.
My highlight was getting to know that 1.5 and loss and damage have been included in the agreement.
‘Meeting other Asians in COP21, do you think Youth from your country is under represented?’
The number of Asian youth at COP was definitely not representative of the Asian population or the impacts Asia is facing. Bangladesh for instance only had a handful of youth representatives in spite of our country being a poster-child for climate change impacts. Funding acts as a big impediment to youth’s participation.
‘And what’s next?’
I am currently developing articles on fossil fuel subsidies, loss and damage and fracking to pitch to Devex, Guardian and Good Magazine.
You can find out more about Sohara Mehroze on her social media sites :
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sohara.mehrozeshachi
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoharaMehroze
Nguyen Cao Danh from Vietnam
Nguyen Cao Danh (Yann Nguyen) from World YMCA
I am Yann Nguyen, 22 years old. I come from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I have been volunteering with the YMCA since 2012. Currently, I am Youth Committee’s Representative from the YMCA of Vietnam.
I am a young volunteer leader of the YMCA of Vietnam and I want to inspire young people in my community about climate change via YMCA’s Work Camp and Training.
I was excited for my trip to Paris during the second week of negotiations.
I expected to make friends and get connected with youths around the world. Plus, I expect to gain efficient knowledge in international development and international relation during the time with YMCA in Paris. I want to raise youth voice to make a better world.
I have learnt that climate change is an important issue not only in Asia countries but worldwide. Young people is the one who will solve it. So, their voices have an extreme impact. I am a part of young generation and I want to do something about climate change because recently climate change is affecting not only my life but millions of others life’s.
I was personally impressed about how young people were engaging to the agreement via various actions in the green zone. As an Asian Youth, I felt that I was not isolated in the crowd. I joined various meetings and actions with my friends during COP21 especially the YMCA’s flash mob on the 11th December 2015.
‘Meeting other Asians in COP21, do you think Youth from your country is under represented? ‘
I don’t think so. Even though I didn’t meet any other Vietnamese Youths during the meeting, I still try my best to raise our voice. Coming to Paris is expensive but I was very happy to meet up with Asian Youths at Le Bourget to share our view, our idea and our problem.
‘What’s next? ‘
After Paris I plan to launch an exchange program in South East Asia Countries to raise the awareness of young leaders in sustainable development in 2016 called ASEAN VOLUNTEER EXCHANGE NETWORK (AVEN) within YMCA Network. It is a long term project. I hope that I will benefit not only youths but also the community.
You can check out Nguyen Yann on his social media sites for more on him :
Instagram: Yann.nguyen0404
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nguyen.caodanh
Avik Roy from India
Avik Roy from GCCA and Asian News International, Climate Home
I am an environmental journalist based in India. I have been a negotiator tracker/climate tracker for two consecutive years at Warsaw and Lima before going to Paris COP as a journalist tracking India. Before being a journalist I have been a Greenpeace activist in my country, a global power shifter and an online climate mobiliser. I have been featured by The Guardian as one of 12 young climate campaigners to watch in the lead up to COP21.
I went to COP21 to report on negotiations that shaped the global climate dialogue and the role countries like India played there. My objective was to highlight the global climate politics to local, grassroots audience in India and include them in the process.
My biggest takeaway from COP21 is that youth power and collective conscience of governments can pave the way for a safer, equitable planet for our future generation.
‘Meeting other Asians in COP21, do you think Youth from your country is under represented? ‘
India has an unrivalled youth demographic with 65 percent of its 1.2 billion population being under 35 years of age. Indian youth have been fairly representing at international discussions, especially at the UN process. But this representation has to grow manifold and a lot of marginalized communities who are direct stakeholders of environmental degradation needs to be provided the opportunity to place their voice at these conferences.
‘ What’s next? ‘
I don’t have any independent projects running right now. However, I have plans to create a media outreach platform for climate and environment stories from across India.
Do learn more about Avik via his social media platforms :
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avikroy0511
Twitter: https://twitter.com/avikroy5
![A Day at COY11, Paris – Amalen]()
by admin | Jan 2, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015, YOUNGO
So my name is Amalen from the Malaysian Youth Delegation, MYD and I am currently attending the Conference of Youth 11, COY11 in Paris.
I got here a day earlier than the rest of my team and being here on the first day in the morning was simply overwhelming. We didn’t have access to the full program before this morning (26th Nov) but looking at it for the first time I simply felt swamped, confused and mostly just overwhelmed.
Floor Plan at COY11
There were so many different events going on in that single space. There we hundreds and thousands of people there. Me being alone I didn’t really know what to do at first, I texted my mentor and friends and sadly didn’t get a direct response due to time differences but I just decided that I need to stop feeling this way and carry on. So that’s what I did. I sifted through all the activities and events for the day and planned out my schedule so that I could attend all the sessions I wanted to. It took me awhile to shake off this overwhelming feeling but just focusing on the events I had to attend helped me get through it better.
COY Manifesto Session
For most of the day I was stuck at the COY manifesto sessions. These sessions seemed more familiar as I have previously been involved in a similar process during ASEAN Power Shift 2015. During these sessions, they talked about the youth manifesto which has been worked on for the past 2 weeks by a host of different people using data that they had gathered via email surveys to youths that registered for COY, and believe me that is a large number. This final sessions were more of a finalizing session, to ask us, the youth, if we agree on what they have made, do we want it worded differently or certain thing added or removed etc.
During these sessions, I realized that youth voices from South East Asia or East Asia for that fact are rarely heard. The number of Asians at the conference were not that numerous and trying to find another Malaysian there seemed almost impossible. I took this as a challenge, I should voice out my opinion, I should say something when I agree or disagree, let my voice be heard!
And true enough, my voice was heard and more than that it was taken into account, it was considered a very good point. That just gave me a big boost of confidence to continue to speak up throughout my time here.
“Make It Real” Session
I attended a workshop by a group called ‘Make it Real’. They had previously done COP simulations with different mechanisms to UNFCCC. Their new hypothesis and ideas really sparked an interest to me. They were trying to make the process of UNFCCC much more easier, more better and simply more efficient. These were youth who decided to work with their negotiators, gather data and evidence and work closely together. Hopefully this is something we the MYD can do with our negotiators after COP21.
Sustaina Claus – 3 Fingers Selfie
I also met an interesting chap called Sustaina Claus, the sustainable Santa Claus-turning Christmas green, haha. He taught me something very interesting, he took a picture with me and told me to put up 3 fingers. I just did it and it was a rather funny thing but after asking why I found out he had his own little movement going, society, environment and economy in balance- to create a sustainable balance between these 3 groups, and the fact I can tell what it meant and what it’s about is all because he put up something random and it made me ask. Sometimes it’s all about doing and letting human curiosity take course.
Towards the end of the day I felt ecstatic to the fact I reached home without realizing I hadn’t eaten dinner. It was an amazing first day and there is so much more I would like to share but alas sleep shall take over me now.
I have been looped into involvement for a session during tomorrow’s program-Asia region meet up and discussion. I hope I do well. Doing things on a whole new scale is definitely scary but I’ll give it a try and hope for the best. Hopefully meeting all the different people and conversing with them about different ideas and projects will help bolster my confidence for tomorrow.
Till my next post. Amalen.
![Zones outside of COP21]()
by admin | Jan 2, 2016 | Blog, MYD2015, YOUNGO
Climate Action Zone
Before the Malaysian Youth Delegation (MYD) arrived in Paris, we only managed to secure a half yellow badges, second week only, before we departed. Hence, most of the MYD’s plans were occupied by the parallel events that does not require accreditation to enter, in simple words, open to public.
However, after we luckily get full badges for everyone (we only receive the good news when we reached Paris), many of us neglected the side events outside of the Parc des Expositions (COP21 venue) because we already have tons of events available in COP21 itself.
Nonetheless, I have tried exploring two renowned zones outside of the COP21- Climate Generation Zone (Green Zone) and Climate Action Zone (ZAC).
Climate Generation Zone
The first time I enter the green zone was to pass Winnie, Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS)’s brochures. The first impression that I had for it was “as colourful as a circus”. I visited the Climate Generation Zone several times after that, mainly to have meetings and to be interviewed by Scott and Miranda (our friend from University of Northwestern who have tracked and filmed the MYD for the first week). The green zone is much more lively than the blue zone (COP21 venue) because it was decorated with fancy chairs and booths, packed with people in different customes (indigenous people’s traditional outfits, clown customes etc) and filled with energetic chants from the actions. Although I did not really visited every single booth in the zone, I spent some quality time with my group member Amalen walking, or running, around the booths there. What I observed from the booth is how they attract their audiences with their booth design, interactive machines and impressive brochure layout. The most memorable ones are the Juice Bar which generates power from bicycle dynamo and a booth made by paper boxes!
Climate Action Zone
I have been to this zone for only once, but the climate activism spirit stroke me so hard that I can still hear the loud cheer now. It is so different from what I’ve expected. I was expecting it to be packed with only a hundred people- some drawing banners, some visiting the exhibition and some joining a talk- a formal hall with chairs like how it was inside COP21 and a participant age range of 15-50. I was surprised to see more than two thousand people sitting on the ground, cheering as they listened to an arousing talk by climate activist. The atmosphere was extremely hyper and influential over there. As I could not find a place to even sit on the floor, I’ve stood to take note of the seminar that I intended to join, titled “Capitalism Against Climate: How Free Trade Agreements Undermine Climate Actions”.
The most surprising part was that the is a significant number of senior citizen in the crowd; they were cheering and clapping together with the youths. They were not there as a pass-byer, they were with their pens and notebooks – they were there to join the movement! Maybe the culture of elderly joining movements is not popular in Asia. I found this very interesting.
I actually missed some other happening places like the YOUNGO Art Space and the Place-to-B. I’m definitely very regretful about that but I’m glad that I did hopped into the two zones that I shared with you. These places reminded me that I’m not alone and recharged me so much after I drained my energy in the comparatively dull Parc des Expositions!
Written by Elaine
