YOUTH BOOTH

Youth power at COP26 led protests and also offered solutions

- REKHA DIXIT

At a time when almost all the powerful men and women of the world were in Glasgow, teenager Greta Thunberg still managed to steal the thunder, as she and her massive following marched through the streets of the city, calling out world leaders for their inaction and pre-deciding the “last chance to save the earth” meet as a failure.

Thunberg may not be far from the truth, because even a unanimous agreement does not amount to much if pledges, given so lavishly, are not even halfway met. The track record with promises of money, technology or a commitment to lower emissions, so far has remained brazenly unkept.

However, even as she highlighted the inequities of climate justice, her rabble-rousing is limited because she does not offer viable alternatives. One of Thunberg’s peeves was carbon offsetting, which basically means a nation or company emitting carbon in one place does an emission compensatory project elsewhere. The issue is a complicated one, and a big task of this summit was to formalise how these carbon markets would be regulated globally.

Rwandan Environment Minister Jeanne Dárc Mujawamariya even said Thunberg and co were “complaining just for the sake of complaining”. Countries like hers rely on carbon offsets (selling carbon removing projects, like reforestation) to the west, to finance their domestic green transition and climate adaptations.