Mubarak Al-Nakhi: “Debates create a positive approach to youth visions and ideas and support our future strategic plans.”

32  young university students competed in an inspiring scientific debate.

The Ministry of Culture organized a ‘Youth Debating’ tournament with the participation of 8 universities across the United Arab Emirates as part of the ‘Youth Hub’ activities within the framework of the COP28 Conference of the Parties on Climate Change, where 8 teams consisting of 32 youth competed in a debate, with the aim of enhancing the knowledge of the young participants and attendees on documented scientific foundations, and the convergence of youth ideas and visions to confront the challenges of climate change and the importance of the role of youth in building the world’s sustainable future.

The tournament shed light on three main prominent topics at the COP28 World Conference: imposing a global tax on carbon to finance international efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, the sponsorship of pioneering countries in the industrial revolution for environmental programs for the least developed countries most affected by the consequences of climate change, and the need for environmentally friendly practices to be a mandatory condition for obtaining commercial licenses for all companies and projects in support of the green economy.

An Inspiring Platform

Commenting on this tournament, His Excellency Mubarak Al Nakhi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, said: “The United Arab Emirates continues its endeavors consolidated by the vision of the wise leadership aimed at enhancing the involvement of youth in all fields by providing an environment that allows them the ability to present their opinions based on proven scientific data and arguments, leading to the axis of truth that is compatible with our aspirations within the framework of the national and global human development process that calls for shaping the sustainable future of generations.”

His Excellency added that debates constitute an inspiring platform that contributes to motivating youth to search and investigate the truth based on documented scientific data and experiments, as well as experiences that seek to confirm viewpoints on basic issues of human concern. They also help hone the youth’s skills and help them think critically, analyze and work in a team spirit, as well as enhancing youth awareness of issues that have a direct impact on society, which can lead to a positive approach to youth visions and ideas that will provide realistic support for the methodologies we follow, within the framework of sustainable updating of strategic plans.

The Ability to Persuade

Eight Emirati universities participated in the ‘Youth Debating’ tournament: the United Arab Emirates University, Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, Khalifa University, University of Kalba, Umm Al Quwain University, Sorbonne University, and the Higher Colleges of Technology.

Youth debates are a platform aimed at presenting the opinions of youth on various social, scientific, and economic topics related to the daily lives of youth, which hone their skills, enhance their ability to persuade, and enable them to access research and studies that would support their views.

The debates that bring together the two teams continue and revolve around the most important topics of our time in just 45 minutes, as the two teams discuss the topic by presenting carefully selected evidence from reliable sources. The committee of judges and the audience choose the winning team so that everyone emerges from the debate with a valuable dose of knowledge.