The way forward for the (youth) climate movement

While COP26 is now behind us, the fight for climate justice continues. This is not a time for despair, but a call to push even harder for meaningful action. 

The opportunities are there. First, the EU is currently finalising the Fit for 55 legislation. The youth climate movement must join forces to make sure the legislation is used to phase out coal, oil and fossil gas. With the possible revision of the EU Climate targets in 2023, there is much work ahead. 

Second, we must keep reminding leaders that ultimately climate change is a symptom of a deeper crisis we are facing – overshoot. It is this core problem of overconsumption of natural resources that we are facing in Europe. The objective of the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan is to work “towards keeping its resource consumption within planetary boundaries”. Yet we are missing meaningful and binding targets to do so. The update of the monitoring framework of the legislation by the end of 2021 and its review in 2022 is a chance to correct this error and make sure we keep our consumption within boundaries. 

Finally, we must follow up on the commitment made in Glasgow for more meaningful youth participation and include indigenous communities in the negotiations. As young people, we must reach out to our national decision-makers and demand to be included in every process which is designed to fight the climate crisis and its impacts on our lives. 

Young people and youth organisations cannot sit back after COP26. It is up to us to continue to hold our governments accountable, push them to take ambitious measures that protect both us and the planet we live on, and tackle the root causes at the heart of the climate crisis.

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