“You Can’t Stop Us”

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  Helen Ekker

  Climate and Energy editor

A few thousand people from different countries and continents demonstrated at the climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. They chanted slogans such as “We are not defeated”, “You cannot stop us” and “No climate justice without human rights”.

The Sharm el-Sheikh summit lasts for two weeks, just like previous climate conferences. In previous years, like last year in Glasgow, large demonstrations took place over the weekend in between, with tens of thousands of activists marching in the streets.

This is not the case in Egypt. The right to protest has been restricted by the government. And according to Amnesty International, you have to register in advance if you want to prove. This scares activists, you get the idea.

Unlike other years, today’s event will remain entirely within the conference walls. It extends over several well-protected rooms, large tents and outdoor spaces in between. During the summit, this is formally United Nations territory. The UN guarantees the safety of activists, there is no other guarantee. It doesn’t make the protesters any less belligerent. Who are they and why do they act? Three portraits.

“In my country there is a lot of deforestation going on and the land is becoming less fertile due to the increasing heat. We recently had landslides after heavy rains, which killed people and destroyed houses. I am 29 years old and I work a lot with women and children. They are well aware that the climate in Cameroon is changing. We are happy that the summit is now in Africa. I think Africans should speak up and make sure they are heard.

For the solutions that need to be implemented in Africa due to the climate, the inhabitants themselves must act. Give Africa some money and let Africa investigate itself and point out what problems they are facing and let them implement the solutions themselves.”

“It is difficult to make our voices heard here. It took more than twenty hours to get here to Sharm-el-Sheikh. I am 25 years old and I studied anthropology. Luckily today we were able to act for the first time. The rich countries they must take their responsibilities. Japan also has to pay, so that other countries can adapt to climate change. Japan has emitted a lot of greenhouse gases, and that is why we have to come to the rescue, including for other countries in Asia.

I personally worry a lot about the climate. Japan is an island. There are more and more heatwaves and many people who work outdoors have already passed out from the heat. I hope here at the climate conference they manage to limit warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees.”

“I join the demonstration because it is nice to protest together with other young people from all over the world. I am 29 years old and I work for a youth organization. I represent the area where I come from, in northeastern Brazil In my country there is a lot of discussion about the culling of forests, I am very happy that we recently have a new president, under his predecessor Bolsonaro there was a lot of deforestation in Brazil, which is bad for the climate.

Under his successor, Lula da Silva, we hope it will be stopped. We will definitely put pressure on him to do it. I hope that many more young people will speak at these kinds of climate conferences in the coming years, even if it is difficult to get there.”