COP27: The voices that were missing

This article was written by Molly Fannon and first appeared on Business Green.

Having just returned from COP27, my inherent hope is now firmly rooted in an energised anger about the voices that are missing. And the knowledge that not only can we correct that loud silence, but we must.

While there was a lot of media buzz recently about the activists that could not - or, understandably, would not - participate in this year's COP, the voices of the most important are missing at nearly all important decision fora. It's not just a COP issue, it's a power issue. And until we address it head on, it's an issue that is impeding us all.
The United Nations' founding charter begins with "we the peoples," and yet "we the peoples" are not included-yet - in any of our major decisions, despite being the foundation of the ideal, and the place that creates the real demand for change. To address climate change - and any other major challenge - we need a counternarrative about who holds power.

We also need a counternarrative about what is important. Why are "we the peoples" important when we have the science, we have the technology, and we have the solutions? Because we do not yet have the will or momentum desperately needed - not in the political sphere, not in the corporate world, and not yet within civil society. We need to move so much faster, and with much greater urgency, to stand a chance at avoiding the worst effects of climate change.
My hope is fueled by the conversations I have with those on the frontlines of climate, who are looked at as "underprivileged" or ''beneficiaries of aid" - and who also use those labels to fuel their work.

Danii Kehler, an artist, activist, Aunty of Antarctica, and student from Kawacatoose First Nation, speaking with others in Mexico City, unabashedly admits that she is "all about world domination." She knows her generation is the only one with the power to shift dynamics. 'We have a duty to look after the next seven generations and beyond. So being here [at COP27], it's not so much [engaging with] the leadership and the people and the power... It's engaging with youth, it's engaging with you... because it's going to be us to empower one another because we're going to be stepping in that place of leadership soon."
We are also kidding ourselves if we think we have all the knowledge we need. Diversity of perspective is not just a climate justice issue. It is also essential to us learning from the people that are often cast as "disadvantaged" or "climate victims," - labels that are dangerously misleading. Those individuals and communities have wisdom many of us could never hope to access in our own life experiences. They are cast as "climate vulnerable," when they are anything but.
"Something that really empowers me is the togetherness that is ...common in activist spaces. Particularly [here] in Mexico [which] is among the most dangerous places for activism and journalism. Because of that, there is a lot of togetherness that is held, that is felt, by the community that ...helps me feel more empowered in my own fight against climate change," admits Antar Abreu Gomez, an 18-year-old climate activist in Mexico City, speaking with others at COP27, and fully aware of the risks to himself and his friends and family by doing so.

Moise Sarick, speaking with others in Bamako Mali, in a completely different conversation, proudly identifies as a refugee living in Nakivale, Uganda, and echoed that same sense of togetherness we heard in Mexico City. "So as responsible humans we all know that this responsibility of saving the planet goes back to everyone "So what we do?" he asks. And then answers, 'We believe in working together, we believe in togetherness."
And he's not idly standing by. He is - in his words - "weaponising education": "If these people [who simply don't know about climate change could be reached they can also join the team. So that's why we think that education is the foremost weapon we can use to change the community."

As CEO of a museum whose role is to lead billions to action and cultivate a sense of a renewed global "we" I am often the one insisting that climate justice demands that each of us as individuals rethinks of ourselves as people - and more importantly - to whom we belong. Belonging - and empathy - are critical in serious and deliberate climate conversations. But the problem is, I know I'm not the norm. The problem is, frankly, that most are simply don't take it seriously, or think we have the time. And yet, this empathy, this togetherness, is the only foundation upon which we can build solutions and new sustainable societies.

Vaneska Bethancourt, a reforestation specialist in Panama, reminds us all that we don't need to look far to understand "togetherness"and why it's essential to tackling climate, in her conversations with others in Uganda. We just need to completely reimagine ourselves and to whom we belong - the essence of climate justice. She spoke in Spanish. I translated for her at the time. I was moved by the poetry of her words and the utter challenge most "privileged" people would have in accessing her wisdom.
She insists that "we need to care for each other, almost as if we were a forest. I have always worked with forests. I love forests. And if we look to forests, there is so much biodiversity. And if we look at our societies - our cities, our villages, our homes - we are all different [just like biodiversity.And because of this I know that if we only cared for each other - each of us, for every one of us - just like the forests cares for their biodiversity, where each species has its role, and each role is important, we would win this struggle against climate change. We would do so by reimagining it as a 'great sharing' of the resources we have, together." And her final kicker - we are of the forests - not apart. That togetherness - it spreads beyond humanity, to all of life on Earth.

Cristián Samper - who is now nearly always at the table - is a biodiversity conservationist at heart, a specialty which only recently made it big to the "climate table". And while Cristian is "concerned because we are not making progress fast enough, and we need greater ambition." He remains ''hopeful because I have run into people you have never met that are doing amazing work, new ways of doing things and making a difference on the ground."

Progressive business leaders are also aware of the need to get more voices heard. As Per Heggens, CEO of the IKEA Foundation, put it: ''When it comes to climate change, most people aren't involved in the conversations and decisions that impact their lives - especially people from communities directly affected - while decision makers rarely have the chance to hear their stories and experiences."