A huge congratulations to our SDG Champion, Dr. Omnia El Omrani, for being named the official Youth Envoy for the UN Climate Change Conference 2022, Conference of Parties (COP27) taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt! Omnia is one of our youth leaders leading the policy brief on SDG 13: Climate Action. She has also represented the Youth Coalition during the previous UN Climate Change Conference or COP26.
Youth Envoy for COP27
On July 7, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and President Designate of COP27 H.E. Sameh Shoukry announced Omnia as the official Youth Envoy for COP27. As the Youth Envoy, Omnia will promote the inclusion of youth and youth organizations around the world during the Conference. She will also ensure that youth voices are heard before, during, and well after the conference. Omnia had also met up with the Minister of Youth in Egypt H.E. Ashraf Sobhy to discuss how Egyptian youth and youth-led organizations can be better involved in the Conference.
During COP26, Omnia joined a panel titled “the future of health care” by emphasizing the role of youth in future initiatives in both health and climate. During the previous Conference, Omnia also shared the Global Youth Statement for Road Safety as well as an Annex highlighting the demand of youth called “There Is No Planet B”.
“The reason why I became a doctor was to help people and protect their health. The reason why I became a climate activist is that I felt that, as a young doctor, it is my ethical obligation to respond to the single biggest global health emergency of the 21st Century”. -Omnia El Omrani
Taking action: addressing the climate emergency
Tiffany Fourment (2015) from the World Meteorological Organization writes that the Conference of Parties (COP) is the decision-making body responsible for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A key task of COP is to review the national communications and emission inventories submitted by Parties as a way to better understand and address the climate crisis.
Young people have also had roles during the Conference, linking climate with issues such as road safety. The previous year, we led an official side event titled “mobilizing youth on converging the climate and mobility agenda”. This was also something participated by Omnia where she discussed youth initiatives, especially by the Youth Coalition, to address climate change.
Omnia will continue to champion youth voices, especially now with her role as COP27’s official youth envoy. She shares “ As the COP27 Envoy of Youth, I am so excited and relentless to enable a meaningful and inclusive platform for youth at the front lines of climate change to empower them to drive policymakers towards scaling up their climate implementation mechanisms, inspiring youth-led grassroots initiatives, and bringing awareness to scalable solutions and the instrumental impact they are bringing.”
READ ABOUT OMNIA’S INVOLVEMENT AT COP26