Climate delegates elevate youth perspectives at COP31 negotiations

As global climate talks gather pace in Turkey, two Irish youth delegates are working to ensure the voices of young people are not sidelined at COP31.

Fatima Elzahra Ismail and Adam Ó Ceallaigh have joined the official Irish delegation in Antalya, where they are pushing to make youth priorities part of the conference agenda.

In the lead-up to the summit, the pair carried out consultations with young people across Ireland, gathering views on the issues they want leaders to address.

One message surfaced repeatedly: the need to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels, while making sure the change is fair.

“We all want a greener Ireland, we want electricity to be cheaper for us, but what I found interesting was that a lot of people were looking at that just transition in a more global sense,” Fatima said.

She said participants also raised concerns about the supply chains behind a low-carbon economy, arguing Ireland should help set standards for sourcing the materials required for clean technologies.

“A point that came up in the consultations was that Ireland has a role to lead in the consideration of where the critical minerals needed come from because you can’t have a just transition built on exploitation.”

Ireland is leading negotiations on behalf of the European Union at the summit as part of its EU Presidency.

In a similar leadership role, Fatima and Adam are heading the EU climate youth delegates group.

Watch the video to hear more about what they have been doing at COP31.