ABU DHABI, 11th May, 2023 (WAM) — Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi has launched the SUAD Youth COP in an online webinar that brought together over 700 registered participants from 85 countries and a panel of climate leaders from the North and South, who play a key role in their respective countries.
In her opening remarks, Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Chairwoman of the University Board of Trustees, highlighted the importance of empowering the youth and their role in the global transformation.
She reiterated the commitment of the UAE to COP28 and the inclusion of youth in the process, with the appointment of Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, Minister of Community Development, Vice Chairman of the Arab Youth Centre as a COP28 Youth Climate Champion.
She ended her remarks by praising academic universities such as Paris Cité University in France and Universidade Federal do Ceará in Brazil and encouraging them to continue to engage in climate discussions.
Professor Silvia Serrano, Vice-Chancellor Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, welcomed the participants to the event, which is being held in collaboration with Université Paris-Cité (France), Universidade Federal Do Cerea (Brazil) and the YOUNGO, the official youth constituency of the UNFCCC.
Professor Serrano highlighted that as a transnational Emirati French higher education institution, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi is in a critical position to encourage students and youth across the globe to engage in the dialogue to realise the goals of the Paris Agreement.
SUAD Youth COP is one of the initiatives organised by Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi as part of its Go Green 2023 and in alignment with the UAE Year of Sustainability and the upcoming COP28.
The Youth COP has been developed to allow students worldwide to engage in the COP28 discussions through a simulation of mock negotiations where students will prepare an ambitious and comprehensive document to tackle the pressing topics around the ocean, loss and damage mechanisms and energy transition.
Twenty-five teams (75 students) will collaborate on climate-related topics in an enriching, immersive negotiation event. The selected students will develop a joint document that will become a "Call to Action from Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi to Future Generations," which will be presented at COP28 by the two winning teams.