Day 9 of the UN Climate Change talks, and with a glazed focus I find myself casually sifting through the stream of Tweets by youth delegations from all over the globe, swarming in by the second, commenting on the squabbles and negotiations of world leaders. The spear of excitement that I felt coming to Durban, as one of the five delegates to represent Medsin, is often momentarily lessened to a slight pinch as the direction of negotiations meanders through the rocky path of COP17.
The past week here in Durban has seen world leaders flounder in the turmoil of power struggles in their debates over climate change, and with the COP17 journey almost at an end, I find myself pondering over the influence that Medsin and youth as a whole elicits in the UN Climate talks. The Canadian youth delegation has publically shamed the actions of their country at COP17, and New Zealand youth displayed their outrage at the back-handed antics of their countries' leaders. I have come to realise it is the youth delegations who are trying mediate and umpire the sometimes arguably immoral and dishonourable motives of some countries.
This has just propelled me into an overwhelming sense of perspective- it really is up to us, as a body of youth from all over world, to take the climate bull by the horns, and charge up the COP17. As youth, our influence is massive, and as Medsin, we are using this voice to engage world leaders, society, doctors and medical students to acknowledge the threats of climate change to health and to act now. It is not ideal nor effective using fear as a haggling tactic of persuasion, but in this case of the effects of climate change, the luxury of wasting more time is no longer ours to meddle with. Humanity has been wreckless with our planet, and now the earth is getting sick. This sickness coupled with the increasing population and escalating demand on resources means the planet is losing its capability to provide us with clean air and water, sufficient food, freedom from disease and adequate shelter. The fundamental pre-requisites for good health are swiftly deteriorating and it's just a matter of time before we reach food and water shortages of catastrophic proportions, which will prove immensely detrimental to health. World leaders are massively missing this point that the future of humanity as a species is riding on these talks. This message is not new, and its urgency has been stressed countless times- why can’t they take it on board? It is only right that we ask more of the generations who precede us, and ask them to acknowledge and take responsibility for harming our planet so we can work together in managing the effects, and reduce further damage.
In these vital days of the negotiations, we must continue using our voice to influence the direction towards a legally binding treaty to cut global emissions. We, as medical students have a unique voice at COP17, and this needs to be heard as the world meets. In the closing days of COP17, please listen to us, and let’s work together to fix it. The future lies in young hands, and a healthy future lies in our hands.
I am a 4th year medical student at Queen’s University Belfast. I am currently in South Africa representing Medsin-UK at the UN Climate talks, where we are raising the profile of health within the negotiations, and asking world leaders to take action on the great risk posed to health.
