Young people must have a voice in global efforts to combat climate change – not because of their youth, but because they are important stakeholders who offer solutions to the crisis. 

That’s the opinion of Ayisha Siddiqa, a Pakistani-American environmental and human rights defender, who is a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. 

Ms. Siddiqa spoke to Nadeem Saeed of UN News’s Urdu Unit, about how her background informs her work to accelerate the “SG’s” climate agenda. 

She also shared her honest take on UN climate conferences, known as COPs, and explains why poetry “can be a mechanism of quiet protest” in the face of the climate emergency.