“Our hopes are high that the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) will collectively focus on the survival of the Pacific and that the legally binding universal agreement is adopted,” says Krishneil Narayan.

And a day after the successful “We the Pacific” dialogue forum side event at the COP21, Krishneil says the collective message from the Pacific Island leaders will be echoed throughout the duration of the COP21.

Krishneil is a passionate climate change activist-cum-mentor and he is in Paris for the 2015 Paris Climate Conference. The 28-year-old is not a newcomer to the negotiation table on climate change.

The Paris conference is Krishneil’s fifth COP and he is determined to work with his Pacific youth peers to leave Paris knowing they have successfully stimulated high level dialogue on the survival of the Pacific.

“The onus is on us now to create the atmosphere for our voices to be heard and to take ownership of our campaigns, lobbying and awareness work. The Pacific youth delegation will be a force to be recognised in Paris.

“There are more side events planned for the duration of COP 21 and this high level dialogue that has just finished is just a beginning,” said Krishneil, who also acknowledged the support from the French Embassy in Suva.

Earlier in May this year, Krishneil was invited to Paris for the second informal dialogue with the French Government on the draft United Nations Climate Change negotiating texts on behalf of the Pacific and the UNFCCC youth constituency.

“I was able to meet with the French ambassador for climate change, Laurence Tubiana of the COP21 French presidency, Peru’s deputy representative for climate change from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Romulo Acurio and other high level dignitaries who are climate change experts.

“At this meeting, I presented an intervention on behalf of the Pacific Youth and UNFCCC youth constituency about the upcoming Paris COP21 climate negotiations, now taking place. I am also happy to be here in Paris for this historic occasion and I am grateful to the French Embassy in Suva for its support.

“And being here will allow me to raise the voice of youths during the meeting.

“From my COP experiences, Pacific youth participation at these high level dialogues is limited and there is a need to reverse this process because we cannot be silent on this issue anymore.

“After the 2009 Copenhagen climate change conference, I came back to Fiji and realised that there was a lot of work done by young climate change activists in the region. We mobilised and created a movement that focused on climate change in the Pacific and our survival,” he said.

Krishneil started advocating on climate change in 2007 after a short stint with Greenpeace as a volunteer.

He took an active role in the campaigns and admits that he has never regretted volunteering for Greenpeace.

“It was an opportunity to learn so many new things at that time but climate change issues were very dear to me. It dawned on me that a lot of work needed to be done to change peoples’ attitude in the way they talk about climate change.

“So in mid-2009, I had the opportunity to go to Australia for climate change training on negotiating and how to campaign on the issue.

“It was done by Al Gore, and this training taught me how to engage with the public. This really helps my negotiations and facilitation on the issue.

“The training gave me the platform to understand climate change better and in a better position to negotiate at high level dialogue,” he said.

After the Paris COP 21, Krishneil says he will take a more mentoring role in helping young Pacific leaders take up the call and the lead in raising climate change issues in the international negotiating theatre.

* Moira Vilsoni-Raduva is the public affairs adviser and relations officer at the Embassy of France in Suva.