Founder of Swiss Youth for Climate, Océane Dayer was for a long time the spokesperson for Swiss youth on climate issues. Now a member of the International Affairs Division of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN), she continues her fight, despite the disillusionments, ten years after COP21.
Océane was raised in a “cocoon of greenery”. She grew up in the canton of Geneva, in the very first housing cooperative, the “Coop G”, an old farm protected by UNESCO. This setting, she stresses, shaped her relationships with others, her “social enthusiasm”, as well as her relationship to nature and food.
She earned a bilingual French-German Matura at the Collège de Candolle: “It was a different social class from mine; I mixed with very well-off circles in Geneva. It was enriching; I learned to navigate between different worlds.”
On obtaining her Matura, in 2008, she decided to take a gap year, not knowing which direction to choose. She eventually turned towards environmental law, eager to become a lawyer out of a thirst for justice, while wishing first to explore another path.
“I knew that, by studying law alone, I would lack an understanding of what the environment is, of what that entails. So I decided to first do a Bachelor's in Environmental Sciences and Engineering at EPFL.”
This programme confirmed her wish to commit to the climate: “There I understood the issues linked to climate change and the collapse of biodiversity. I became aware of the scale of the challenge this represents for our society.”
An internship at an environmental engineering firm confirmed her hunch: she did not want to continue down that path. At the end of her first Bachelor's at EPFL, she began a second one in law in Geneva, but soon gave up in the face of the length of the programme. She then joined ETH Zurich and its Master's in Human Environmental Systems, where she discovered environmental economics and law.
Her first concrete commitment came about in 2015 during her Master's. Océane volunteered to be a Swiss Youth Representative to the United Nations (Youth Rep) and to accompany the Swiss delegation at international conferences in order to represent the voices of young people.
“I thought I would be sent to COP21, where the Paris Agreement on climate was going to be adopted and which was being held that same year, but that wasn't possible, on the grounds that these were negotiations too technical for young people. I was very disappointed by it; they treated young people as fools.”
She was not put off, however. As part of her commitment as a “Youth Rep”, she set up a delegation of young Swiss people for COP21, in order to go and meet the young people of the other world delegations. That is how Swiss Youth for Climate was born.
“We did, in the end, go to Paris. It's always moving for me to think back on it, because we really believed we were living through a pivotal moment, one in which a profound transformation of society was getting under way.”
Today, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the young girl in me is somewhat disillusioned. We are still far from the targets set in 2015. I am extremely worried, but I am also full of hope; the world is teeming with inventive, courageous and committed people. For example, after 10 years, Swiss Youth for Climate still exists! We must neither let ourselves be discouraged nor give up.
At the end of her Master's, eager to work at the interface between politics and science, Océane did a one-year internship within the policy team of WWF Switzerland. She then committed to it for the long term, as a policy officer.
“I learned a great deal about Swiss politics and its possibilities. We carried out advocacy work with members of parliament to provide them with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions. The team I worked with was exceptional. But after 8 years, I wanted to have new experiences. So I applied to the FOEN for a position in international policy.”
Today she focuses on the international conventions relating to chemicals and waste. Also involved in the committee of Expédition Futur, an association that designs collaborative processes and supports the development of measures in various circles (political, administrative, scientific, and so on), Océane is thinking of going into local politics.
“My advice is to commit to what makes you come alive. Find a job that will make you feel privileged, in a profession that has meaning and that has an impact.”
She has a particular affection for young people who get involved, to whom she is keen to address a message: “Don't let your conduct be dictated by the expectations of others, but do what makes you happy. And don't hesitate to learn to cook vegetarian either; there is so much choice!”
Photo by IISD ENB