Volunteers have been working in all areas of the field since the first day of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
120 of the volunteers came from abroad. They are accompanied by a team of 350 people and 50 coordinators. 5 thousand 679 candidates were selected for the training phase among more than 45 thousand applications made within the scope of the COP31 Volunteer Program, announced with the slogan 'One call, thousands of voices'. Candidates passed a foreign language assessment, individual and group interviews; Their competencies were also measured. 2,700 of the young people trained are working in the field.
COP31 President and Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Murat Kurum shared a post about the volunteers on his social media account and said, "Their languages, countries and stories are different; their fight for the climate is common. Our 2,700 young volunteers from 154 countries have energy in every corner of COP31."
'WE ROTATE THEM TO GET EXPERIENCE'
Zeynep Kasa, Publications Editor of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, underlined that they assign volunteers according to their competencies. Pointing out that volunteers work in both the Blue Zone and the Green Zone, Zeynep Kasa explained that they rotate them to gain different experience. Stating that volunteers help participants from abroad the most, Kasa said, "Our guests from abroad greet our volunteers with an incredible flood of love. They hug them and thank them for their support. It's like this is their home."
FROM EXAM QUESTION TO COP31 VOLUNTEERING
University student Buse Yağdıran, who joined the volunteers from Rize, is in charge of welcoming the protocol on the ground floor of the congress center. Yağdıran said, "There are many halls in the congress center, guests have difficulty finding them. We welcome them and direct them to the hall they want to go to." Yağdıran, who is an Energy Systems Engineering student, said that he heard about COP for the first time from his teacher when he was in his first year, and he even came across the acronym of COP in the exam. Yağdıran noted that he went through general knowledge and English exams, video interviews and training stages during the volunteering process, which started in May. He said, "I thought seeing such an event on site would help me. I am very happy to be here."
'THE STRUGGLE IS NOT ONLY THE WORK OF STATES'
Damla Nur Duran, a student from Marmara University, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, who comes from Istanbul, welcomes the delegations at the Peace Corridor in the Blue Zone and directs the delegations to their destination. Duran said, "I do not think that climate change and the global climate struggle is only an interstate struggle. I think there are many actions we can take individually. I believe that taking action today will benefit us a lot."
Tuğçe Çeküç, who comes from Burdur, takes the protocol members to the halls and shows them around the exhibition areas at the congress center in the Green Zone. Çeküç said, "We can communicate with the speakers one-on-one. They really welcome and answer all our questions sincerely."
YOUNG VOLUNTEERS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD
There are also people from abroad among the volunteers. Bangladeshi engineer Salman Saud said, "I think green innovation and climate change are very important issues for our life, nature and world. That's why we want to be a part of the change." El Asad Aubrey Batigma, who comes from Ivory Coast, explained that he learned about COP31 through a friend and applied. "It was a great pleasure for me to be elected to this COP. I represent my country, Ivory Coast, and I am really happy about it," said Batigma, adding that he thinks this experience will help him apply for higher positions in the future, perhaps at the UN.
YOUTH ARE AT THE SAME TABLE FOR THE CLIMATE
