Meet the YRE going to COP25 in Madrid

COP stands for `Conference of the Parties’. It’s an international meeting where civil society, governments, international organizations, businesses, bankers and many others working on climate policy and science get together to talk and negotiate climate change solutions.

COP25 will take place at IFEMA – Feria de Madrid in Madrid, Spain from 2 to 13 December 2019 and it will focus on countries’ readiness and implementation of the Paris Agreement.

Below you can read some information about some ambitious YRE who will be participating at COP25.

Joana Pedro

My adventure as a YRE began in 2011 and even though I had never dreamt to be a journalist, my love for the environment and nature made me interested in discovering the project. Since then I have participated in several missions, seminars, contests, workshops, and conferences, both in Portugal and internationally, and I am eager to continue to be a part of it since it has just got me fond memories, loads of good friends, knowledge, and skills.

Laura Morgado

I am Laura Morgado, 16 years old and I live in Madrid. I study 1st of Bach and I am very concerned about climate change. In specific, I am very interested in the field of how climate change can affect health and some other consequences it has on the Earth.

I think the project YRE is a very interesting activity which we can use to raise awareness among young people, as well as adults, about climate change and its importance. I am very excited and grateful for having this amazing opportunity of being a journalist for a couple of days.

Ishbel Cora Rodríguez

¡Hola! My name is Ishbel Cora Rodríguez, and I am 23 years old. Recently, I completed a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Comparative Literature at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. And now, I work as a Puerto Rican journalist in Global Press Journal, a news organization that trains and employs women to produce high-quality local news coverage that elevates awareness and ignites social change. I feel committed to writing about the issues that concern me. For example, I am interested in topics related to accessing education, human rights, public health, gender equality, and the environment. In my free time, I enjoy going to the beach, seeing theatre, and spending time with my loved ones.

Alvaro Jimenez

Hello my name is Alvaro and I am from Spain, I live in a town 30 minutes away from Madrid. I am currently studying 1st of baccalaureate at Zola, a school in the north of Las Rozas. I enjoy playing sports like football or tennis. I am also very interested in health issues that could affect anyone just because of living where there is bad air quality. That is why at COP I would like to investigate more about this topic and get more information on how this may influence people's performance at sports.

Lauren Ricard

As an international news reporter and, even more importantly, a nature-lover, I have developed growing concerns about environmental and sustainable development issues over the past few years. While covering stories across Cambodia, China, India, Madagascar, the USA and Europe, I was struck by how unequally it affected people – some of the more destitute, who are only responsible for little gas emission and pollution, ending up being the most affected, their habitat being destroyed or slowly disappearing. Almost three years ago, as I was completing my masters of journalism in France, I won the Young Reporters for the Environment French competition with a video report on sustainable scuba diving in Marseille – and how we can all follow this local example to help clean our oceans and protect our resources through simple, daily gestures. I then had the amazing opportunity to keep working with this YRE network on several projects, including a wonderful workshop in Lisbon and a UNESCO conference in Paris. These eye-opening experiences made me feel even more concerned by these issues and strengthened my will to keep working in that field to better inform people about what is going on, the risks we are all facing and provide them with handy solutions to help save our beautiful planet. Being a sea lover and a diver, I plan to specifically investigate stories related to water resources, oceans protection and the issues regarding its biodiversity.