The selection for the conference was made by LAYCS - Latin American Youth Climate Scholarships, a project that aims to grant ''climate scholarships'', aiming to promote the participation of young Latin Americans, blacks and indigenous people in international forums where climate change is discussed.
Her first participation took place at the SB58 Conference (58th edition of Subsidiary Groups) of the UNFCCC, which took place in Bonn (Germany), from June 5 to 15. The next participations will be at COY (Youth Conference) and COP28 (Conference of the Parties) that will take place between late November and early December in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai.
The Coordinator of the Law course, Márcia Misi and professor of the International Law discipline celebrates the selection of our student in a universe of thousands of applications throughout the Brazilian territory, and affirms that Açucena's participation in these conferences, in addition to promoting international visibility to the struggles of her people, brings our course closer to international forums where debates are held on issues that affect all of humanity. She believes that, on her return, Açucena will have much to share with our academic community.
Asked how she feels about this selection, Açucena says she is very excited and feels a great responsibility, as she was one of the two indigenous Brazilians selected from an average of 5,700 applications, and that she will take this opportunity to learn and defend her people, since climate change directly affects indigenous peoples. She also says that she will carry the identity of the Tumbalalá people and concludes by recalling that ''Whenever an opportunity appears in my life I usually tell myself that it was the enchanted ones who gave it to me and that is why I have in me that I will not go alone, I will go with ancestry and with my people''!
