Climate delegates bring young voices to COP31 talks

Updated / Thursday, 12 Nov 2026 09:46

Ireland's climate youth delegates are at the COP31 climate change conference in Turkey with the aim of making sure the priorities of young people are part of the discussions.

Fatima Elzahra Ismail and Adam Ó Ceallaigh are part of the official Irish delegation in Antalya.

As part of their role, they have held consultations with young people in Ireland to hear about the issues they care most about.

The transition away from fossil fuels was one of the things that came up a lot in their talks.

"We all want a greener Ireland, we want electricity to be cheaper for us, but what I found interesting was that a lot of people were looking at that just transition in a more global sense," Fatima said.

"A point that came up in the consultations was that Ireland has a role to lead in the consideration of where the critical minerals needed come from because you can’t have a just transition built on exploitation."

Ireland is leading negotiations on behalf of the European Union at the summit as part of its EU Presidency.

Similarly, Fatima and Adam are leading the EU climate youth delegates group.

Watch the video to hear more about what they have been doing at COP31.