Conference Youth Demand Better Future

Hundreds of people from many countries, predominantly teenagers, staged a demonstration on Wednesday (11/12/2019) at the Climate Change Conference in Madrid, Spain, screaming, “Climate justice!”

KOMPAS/AHMAD ARIF

Security officers block access to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP25) plenary hall in Madrid on Wednesday (12/12/2019), following a demonstration by hundreds of youths and activists who staged a sit-in protest to express their disappointment with the lack of progress in the climate negotiations.

The demonstrators, some wearing the traditional dress of several countries, were shouting, “Shame! Shame!” before they were ushered out of the complex by security personnel. Their observer access cards were confiscated. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres finally granted them access again on Thursday morning (12/12/2019).

Mohammad Reza Sahib, National Coordinator of the People’s Coalition for the Right to Water (KRuHA), and four other Indonesian activists affiliated with the Demand Climate Justice (DCJ) global network were also escorted out of the venue.