Y-Future Swansea and COP26

Y-Future Swansea's youth coordinators Katy and Zubs attended COP26 with two young people from Swansea, with the help of funding from Swansea RDP.

We recently chatted to them and Callum, one of the young people on the Y-Future Swansea's steering group and who also attended COP26 to find out how their visit to the event had translated into practical actions to help Rural Swansea improve its response to the climate change and support the work of Swansea RDP in reducing Swansea's unsustainable ecological footprint.

Here is what Callum had to say:

"We attended the conference on the 8th and 9th November and we weren't too sure what to expect, but the one thing that was for sure is that it exceeded everybody's expectations. The event was proper buzzing, there were so many people there from across the world.  

I think all of us in the group kind of had an understanding of the climate crisis and the issues that we face, but actually being confronted by the facts and first-hand witness accounts was quite sobering. Seeing the effect that human consumption has on the planet made ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions.

Unfortunately we weren't blessed to have passes to the Blue Zone, but we did go to the Green Zone, which is where corporations and companies had stalls talking about their commitments and what they were trying to do to help tackle the climate crisis.

It was a good way of actually seeing what already exists out there and how we could implement it in Swansea.

One stand we visited was all about our consumption of water and we actually found out that when you're washing your hands it doesn't make a difference whether you're washing them with cold or warm water, your hands will be clean as long as you use soap. Can you imagine the reduction in household emissions, if we all altered this one habit?

Another stand featured a vertical farm, which is designed so that you can produce vegetables and fruit in any sort of environment, and it's all automated. So fingers crossed that we don't end up in like a dystopian world where the whole planet turns into a desert and we have to grow all plants inside, but if that were the case, this is an example of the types of solutions that are being developed today for a worse-case scenario future."

Callum - Y-Future.Here is my testimonial:

"Before I attended COP 26 I did have an idea of how human activity in consumption was negatively affecting the climate. However, I wasn't fully aware of just how much our over consumption is affecting the environment and our future lives not only in the Northern Hemisphere, but on a global scale.

COP26 taught me that our over consumption as a developed economy is directly affecting lives across the world, for example, many nations that are not contributing as much CO2 emissions as we are, are experiencing the full impact of climate change. Historically we have mined their resources and exploited the native populations. We have to look at our history, take responsibility and give something back by becoming part of the solution.

As a result on my COP 26 attendance I have confronted my own over consumption of meat and become a vegetarian. I've also vowed to stop buying my clothes brand new, try to fix my clothes rather than just throw them or give unwanted clothes to a charity shop. I will use sustainable and environmentally friendly conscious companies if I do need to buy new items.

I now pose the question to myself on a regular basis, what could happen if we don't take action now and what action am I going to take today? I believe we all need to address our own over consumption whether it is related to the fashion industry, food sector, farming or the energy sector. If we all make small changes we can have a big impact."