For two weeks in the beginning of December, over 190 nations and 50,000 participants from across the world converged in Paris with the goal to achieve a binding and universal climate agreement. The 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) is the most important climate negotiation in all of history; the resulting agreement from the conference will be used to pivot climate action for the foreseeable future. It will affect every single human, in every nation, on the planet. But are all the nations being heard?
The Least Developed Counties (LDCs) occupy a unique position in the conference. Despite producing less than one percent of global historic greenhouse gas emissions, people living in the LDCs are dying first and worst from climate change. Even with first-hand experience of the results of climate change, the LDCs are disadvantaged and marginalized in the negotiations.
The Silenced World, inspired by Humans of New York, seeks to unveil narratives from some of the participants from the LDCs. The topics range from indigenous rights, gender equality, funding for adaptation capacity, personal frustrations, and more, revealing an unexplored depth to the climate discussion which is not reflected in mainstream climate discussions.
Head over to the page to read the narratives and you might see things you've never thought about when it comes to the climate fight. What does the final agreement of this conference really mean? And just how many people are being left behind?