Miss Samoa Moemoana Schwenke is amongst the youth who are advocating for better climate outcomes at the COP28 in Dubai.

She is no stranger to climate advocacy. As a member of the 350 Pacific Climate Warriors, she has spent many years advocating for the Pacific in the climate change space at the regional and global stage.

This year, she is wearing a slightly different hat – attending the world’s largest climate conference as part of the Samoan delegation, but also as the reigning Miss Samoa.

“My role as a youth representative is to echo all our Pacific leaders’ calls in those negotiating rooms and push for our key goals which is 1.5 to stay alive, the phasing out of fossil fuels, and the transition to clean and renewable energy,” Ms Schwenke said.

“I have been following all the youth events that have been happening here at COP, and am also very interested in indigenous and traditional knowledge as that is my background and what I studied. With the Pacific being at the forefront of the impacts of climate change, I believe we hold a lot of the solutions in our traditional knowledge.”

She has also been following the Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion discussions, which represent the views of vulnerable groups that are affected by climate change such as women, youth, and people with disabilities.

Ms Schwenke was also one of the special performances during the opening of the Moana Blue Pacific Pavilion on the first day of COP28, as well as the opening of the Alliance of Small Island States Pavilion, for which Samoa is the current Chair.

When asked about her thoughts on COP28 thus far, Ms Schwenke said the thing that has stood out to her the most is the strong Pacific leadership and unity displayed by the Pacific Small Islands Developing States, who are often minnows in a sea of whales at COP.

“When we went to COP26 it was in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were only a few of us who attended and I remember it being a bit of a disheartening COP because we didn’t get the results we had hoped for,”  she said.

“For this COP, I feel a sense of hope, which is what I think our people from the Pacific come with to COP. We have seen some great commitments from developed countries on some of the issues that are important to our people and our region.”

Ms. Schwenke said it is a privilege for her to be attending COP, and that she wants to take back what she learns from here to the grassroots level, as she believes it is important for everyone to understand why climate change is important and how it is affecting our islands and our people daily.