Lara Bertemes and Sarah Mackel: Voices of Luxembourg youth at COP30
On 2 June 2025, Luxembourg's new Climate Youth Delegates (CYD) were officially selected. Lara Bertemes and Sarah Mackel will represent the interests of Luxembourg's youth at the 30e Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in November 2025 in Belém, Brazil.
The CYD programme in Luxembourg, a collaboration between the Jugendrot/CGJL and the Ministry for the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity (MECB), is both an educational opportunity and an educational project aimed at encouraging young people to get involved in climate issues. Its aim is to train and support Luxembourg's youth ambassadors so that their ideas and concerns are heard on an international scale.
It gives them the opportunity to join the Luxembourg national delegation, to take part in negotiations and informal meetings, and to bring the voice of young people to bear on global climate issues.
Chosen to take on this role, Lara Bertemes and Sarah Mackel will be responsible for defending these commitments, not only at COP30, but also in other international debates.
Discover our Climate Youth Delegates Luxembourg 2025 - 2026 !
Lara Bertemes
Originally from Éislek (a region covering the north of Luxembourg), Lara Bertemes, 25, has been committed to protecting the environment since she was a teenager. A former youth delegate to the United Nations and an active member of the Youth Parliament, she campaigns for ambitious and inclusive climate action.
Currently completing her Masters in Sustainability Governance, a programme combining environmental science with political and social issues, Lara is deepening her expertise through her research into climate finance and Climate Clubs. Her aim is to contribute to the development of more ambitious and effective climate policies.
Sarah Mackel
At the age of 21, Sarah Mackel is studying medicine at St. Andrews, Dublin, while at the same time actively working for a more sustainable future, at the intersection of health, climate and public policy.
A volunteer and lecturer with a number of international organisations, she has addressed subjects ranging from scientific diplomacy to artificial intelligence in public health, exploring healthcare systems from a technological and climate perspective.
Her research into primary care and eye services in sub-Saharan Africa has won her several awards, including the Jonk Fuerscher Prize, after being a finalist at the Intel Regeneron ISEF (California) and winner of the European Union Contest for Young Scientists.
Currently on a research mission in East Africa, she is studying access to healthcare for refugees suffering from terminal illnesses.
As part of her mandate, Sarah wants to strengthen her commitment to children, teenagers and young adults, whose voice is too often absent from debates, particularly on the international stage.
The Minister emphasised: «We would also like to express our deep gratitude to Frida Thosteinsdottir and Natasha Lepage, who brilliantly paved the way as Luxembourg's first Climate Youth Delegates. Their preliminary work played a decisive role in the establishment and recognition of this programme».