EESC info: How do you see your role in the Committee and particularly as a delegate to COP 28? What do you wish to bring to the debate on climate change?

Diandra Ní Bhuachalla: "As the EESC's Youth Delegate to COP until 2025, I view my role as integral to our work of being truly representative and inclusive.
An ongoing issue experienced by various stakeholders engaging in international decision- and policy-making is exclusion, and this is something that young people know and feel all too well. Despite the fact that we are crucial changemakers on climate and possess a unique set of lived experiences, we are often told that our age prevents us from understanding and from constructing informed opinions. This discrimination can be compounded depending on one's race, gender, sexuality, culture, etc.
The longer this attempt at silencing continues, the more likely it is that young people will become disengaged. Who will save people and the planet then? What experienced and motivated leaders will we have in the lead up to 2050, a time when the really difficult decisions will need to be made?
Countless young people who have attended COP in past years have remarked how their greatest learnings and strongest relationships have been created outside of negotiation spaces. Whether inadvertently or not, the procedures in place for this to be the case are producing segregation. To overcome climate change, we need every voice and every idea to come together in solidarity. Sustained and effective climate action relies on the empowerment of marginalised groups. It is only then that we can achieve climate justice and ensure that no one is left behind in the fight of our lives."

Diandra Ní Bhuachalla has served as a United Nations Youth Delegate for Ireland (2021-2022), focusing on gender equality, climate justice, and peace and security following 11 years of advocacy at local and national level. She works with the National Youth Council of Ireland's Youth2030 team as coordinator of Youth Delegate programmes. She actively engages with the ESDN Youth Network and the Chatham House Common Futures Conversations programme. She was recently selected as a Future Generations Global Ambassador with Foundations for Tomorrow and the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.

Diandra holds a BSc in Government, an LLB and an MSc in International Public Policy and Diplomacy from University College Cork.