3 Young Reporter for the Environment will take part in COP27 and cover the event! The COP (Conference of the Parties) is the annual meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Each year, countries “come together to take action towards achieving the world’s collective climate goals as agreed under the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC.” The COP27 will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Catarina Semedo de Oliveira from Portugal, Hatim Lachheb from Morocco, Emer Rafferty from Northern Ireland, will act as YRE (and even more) during the event.
They will attend sessions as both reporters and speakers, conduct interviews, explore the Blue and Green Zone, investigate climate change issues that they are passionate about and so much more! As ambassadors of the YRE programme, they are also representing youth calling for climate action!
Presentations of the YREs
Catarina Semedo de Oliveira
Curious and passionate. These are, I believe, the traits that led me to become a young reporter at COP 27. The desires to experience first-hand governments’ discussions and to report them in a way that is truly relevant to my generation. As a young reporter since 2018, I have had the privilege of reporting at events such as the Youth Environmental Education Conference (Prague, 2022) and the Web Summit (Lisbon, 2021). I have also worked as an Environmental Trainer in the `One Health´ International Campus for initiation to research and communication of the Erasmus+ e-InnoEducCO2 Project (Aveiro, 2022) and I am currently part of the environmental NGO “Bora Ambientar”, based in Portugal. I hope all of these experiences give me a global relevant perspective to represent the YRE in the best way possible at COP 27! Looking forward to it :)
Hatim Lachheb:
Hii !! My name is Hatim Lachheb and I am a 17 years old environmental activist in a small town in southern Morocco. My passion for the environment started at a young age, I remember visiting my Grandpa and my Grandma in the countryside and being fascinated by their job as farmers and their life as a simple family and as Gardners. So I decided that I too follow in their footsteps, not in our village but in our big urban world. The latter deserves people that care about our environment and prioritize it above everything else, so I believe that I can and I will make that change sooner rather than later.
Emer Rafferty
I am an environmental activist and Queens University chemical engineering student with a strong determination to ensure a safe future for today’s and subsequent generations, wildlife and the natural environment. My enthusiastic, vibrant and focused yet down to earth personality helps me appreciate the world around me, makes me value my friendships and the opportunities I have been given, and gives me determination to bring about change for the better wherever I can. I have a keen love for sports and music and I work hard to improve my skills in both these fields. I have a great sense of drive and immerse myself fully in whatever I put my mind to- education, environmental activism, charity giving, community work and sports. My level of expectation and standards for myself is high- I want and expect the best from myself.
I am super excited, motivated and determined to make a lasting impact at COP27, to ask difficult questions and represent us young people. As I was COP26 ambassador last year, I hope to build on my work and outcomes from last year.
We are looking forward to following their adventure live on Facebook @yre.global and Instagram @yre_int and to reading their reports on Exposure afterwards.
The two Key Climate Education Sessions (climate change education session and “Global Call for Climate Education”) hosted by FEE at COP27 will be available online, you can learn more and register for it at the link below.