Nearly half the world’s children are exposed to climate impacts such as floods, extreme heat and air pollution. The estimation is made by Unicef, and represents one billion young people – the generation most threatened on the planet.
Born in Colombia, Francisco Manzanares, 16 years old, is one of them. But instead of waiting for adults to take action, Manzanares raised his own voice to the climate movement. “We are facing the greatest existential threat before our eyes, which is the climate crisis”, notes. “And to face this complex crisis, we news complex solutions”, completes.
Participating in his fifth Climate Conference edition, Manzanares is one of the best-known voices claiming justice and rights for the children and teenagers at COP30. Belem, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, was stage for more than 160 children make their demands during negotiations — an historical achievement that owes much to Manzanares’ path: at COP27, held in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, he was the only child formally accredited to the Blue Zone.
“The crisis we are living is a systemic crisis, caused by a predatory model of production that destroys life and people”, criticize.
Manzanares began his activism at age nine with the movement called Guardianes por la vida (Guardians for life, in English). In 2023, Unicef nominated the Colombian activist as the first youth advocate for environmental and climate action in Latin America and the Caribbean to promote education and child participation. Vera was just 13 years old at the time.
He spoke at the Regional Climate Foundations Pavillion during COP30, where he emphasized culture as a bridge to connection and argued that the climate crisis is rooted in economic models that disregard life. “In the face of climate denialism and historical denialism, we must try to reach young people through culture”, stated on the occasion.
COP in the Amazon and fossil fuels
Manzanares underscored the relevance of holding COP30 in Latin America for the first time in 11 years, a decade after the Paris Agreement, and in the Amazon region, which is central to global climate debates.
The activist pointed out that Brazil and Colombia currently have more favorable political environments for climate discussions. Still, he noted contradictions between public statements and concrete actions. In Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has defended ending fossil fuels at COP30, weeks after authorizing new oil exploration in the Amazon.
“Actions are different from speeches, actually”, Manzanares marked. “But implementation is lacking, and there is a need to discuss how to protect activists. Therefore, regardless of who governs, the climate must be defended”, he added.
He also stressed the need to make climate communication more connected to people’s daily experiences. “Many narratives focus on distant images such as melting polar regions”, he said, “while communities in the Amazon are already facing local impacts — including the recent deaths of pink river dolphins during extreme heat events”.
When is not advocating for a better future, Francisco is a teenager who goes to high school in Spain and France. Activism is a passion for him, but he also has other interests. He likes to go to the sea and explains why: “the Mediterranean Sea is beautiful, I encounter many octopuses”.