Panama’s team ‘make noise’ at COP26 for youth and women

Author of the article: Reuters Valerie Volcovici and William James GLASGOW — Panama’s top COP26 https://www.reuters.com/business/cop negotiator Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez pumps himself up each morning with ‘reggaeton’ music as the 29-year-old prepares to fight for the future of his country and his generation. “We’re the people who are going to make noise,” Monterrey Gomez…
Panama’s team ‘make noise’ at COP26 for youth and women

Author of the article:

Reuters

Valerie Volcovici and William James

GLASGOW — Panama’s top COP26 https://www.reuters.com/business/cop negotiator Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez pumps himself up each morning with ‘reggaeton’ music as the 29-year-old prepares to fight for the future of his country and his generation.

“We’re the people who are going to make noise,” Monterrey Gomez told Reuters at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow.

The 11-member Panamanian negotiating team which Monterrey Gomez leads is the youngest at COP26, with an average age of just 26 and more women than men.

“We’re young. Don’t take us for granted. You want to keep us on the right side. Sometimes we’re nice, but sometimes we need to be not-so-nice,” is how he summarizes his tactics.

During his relatively short lifetime, Monterrey Gomez has seen pledges made by previous generations of negotiators and world leaders repeatedly failed to control climate change.

Greenhouse gas emissions have doubled, while rich nations still have not made good on long-standing promises of finance for poor nations to adapt https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/that-sinking-feeling-poor-nations-struggle-with-un-climate-fund-2021-11-11 to the changes global warming brings.

The Panamanian delegation is pushing for talks to result in a firm commitment by rich nations to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/whats-difference-between-15c-2c-global-warming-2021-11-07.

And he warned Britain’s COP president Alok Sharma to take his team seriously on the first day of the summit.

“The point of the Panama delegation … is not only to make change, but it’s also to be disruptive and represent the youth and women of the world,” Monterrey Gomez said.

He represents a youthful country and region, with the median age in central America just 28, compared with 38 in the United States and 42.5 in Europe.

YOUNG VETERAN

Monterrey Gomez grew up in the dry rural valley of El Pájaro de Pesé, and joined Panama’s environment ministry after studying economics and international public policy in the United States at Tulane University and University of Chicago.

He was 22 when he attended his first U.N. climate summit, in 2015 in Paris, and the experience convinced him it was crucial for young people to be a part of the policymaking machine.

As a ministry climate analyst, he then helped write Panama’s national climate plans for both 2016 and 2020.

Now a veteran on the issue for Panama, Monterrey Gomez said he and his team have a responsibility at COP26 to represent the young climate campaigners and activists who have rallied around the world in recent years for bolder action.

With its government’s full backing, the Panamanians are empowered to make negotiating decisions “and defend them till the last minute,” while others scramble to consult with ministers in their capitals, Monterrey Gomez said.

“If we don’t get a strong call to keep 1.5 alive, then the Glasgow conference is going to be a failure,” he added. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici and William James; Editing by Alexander Smith)

Financial Post Top Stories

Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

Read More

Total
0
Shares
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Related Posts
Traders See ECB’s Window to Hike Narrowing Before It Even Starts
Read More

Traders See ECB’s Window to Hike Narrowing Before It Even Starts

Investor fears are rife that the European Central Bank is running out of runway to raise interest rates before it’s even begun. Author of the article: Bloomberg News Alice Gledhill 5duin[orhs4uws)h264g89})_media_dl_1.png Bloomberg RSS (Bloomberg) — Investor fears are rife that the European Central Bank is running out of runway to raise interest rates before it’s…
NASA delays Boeing Starliner’s debut crewed voyage
Read More

NASA delays Boeing Starliner’s debut crewed voyage

Author of the article: Published Mar 23, 2023  •  4 minute read WASHINGTON — Boeing’s first mission carrying astronauts to space aboard its Starliner capsule has been delayed until at least the summer, a NASA official said on Thursday, as people familiar with the matter said last-minute tests and technical debates nixed a plan for…
Boeing plans to cut about 2,000 finance and HR jobs in 2023
Read More

Boeing plans to cut about 2,000 finance and HR jobs in 2023

Author of the article: Published Feb 07, 2023  •  Last updated 4 hours ago  •  1 minute read Join the conversation SEATTLE (AP) — Boeing plans to make staffing cuts in the aerospace company’s finance and human resources departments in 2023, with a loss of around 2,000 jobs, the company said. “We expect about 2,000 reductions…
Currencies slide as dollar rules after strong U.S. jobs data
Read More

Currencies slide as dollar rules after strong U.S. jobs data

Author of the article: Emerging market currencies turned to losses on Friday after strong payroll numbers from the United States raised bets of another large hike by the Federal Reserve, sending the dollar soaring. South Africa’s rand, Chile’s peso and the Colombian currency lost 1% each, while the Chinese yuan gave up session losses to…