It has been a challenging few months for the world as the COVID-19 crisis has slowed activities everywhere. However, taking inspiration from the resilience of trees like the Baobab, we the young people are driving momentum on our concerns and are moving forward with Global Climate Action. This includes taking part in the #Youth4ClimateLive Series, whose third online session took place on August 28, 2020.
In the spirit of International Youth Day 2020 and #31DaysofYOUth, the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramayake, joined Episode 3 to hear firsthand from youth leaders driving global climate action and engage them in a meaningful conversation on how to ensure young people’s voices, demands and concerns are heard at the highest level of the United Nations through different platforms such as the recently created UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change.
The webinar started with video messages from youth around the world responding to the UN Youth Envoy’s question: “How would you tackle the climate crisis if you were your country’s Minister for the Environment?” We heard impressive plans from the youth, like implementing a Green New Deal, prioritizing reforestation, and working towards a distributed renewable energy system.
In case you missed it, don’t worry! This article will lay out the key points discussed in the conversation so you can catch up. The full recording is also available to watch on youth4climate.live.
The moderators started by inviting those tuning in to complete a survey, and they continued to make the session as interactive, engaging, and conversational as possible throughout. The survey was on whether or not audience members engaged with decision-makers in their countries to shape climate policy and what barriers stand in their way.
Youth Engagement for Global Climate Action
Ernest Gibson, a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, emphasized that youth engagement is extremely useful for conversations at all levels. Drawing an example from his own grassroots engagement, he said that “When the youth are involved deliberately and meaningfully, the conversation changes entirely, recognizing the nexus between generations.”
He recognized the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change as the first platform of its kind and as a valuable addition to the youth engagement process. Beyond this, he said we have the ability to adapt, change and reshape in a way no other generation has been able to before now,. and promised to approach the conversation with the UN Secretary-General with strong evidence-based information.
Youth Are the Driving Force Advancing Climate Solutions
Heeta Lakhani, YOUNGO Focal Point, recalled 2019 as a record-breaking time for large-scale youth climate activism. She said that we saw huge numbers of young people from across the world out on the streets protesting, talking in meetings, and attending conferences to ensure that young people would be present where decisions are made and to enable them to push their governments to do more and more each day. Though in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted the ways in which young people are staying active in the climate space. Lakhani added that one of the most central youth demands has always been Inclusion, emphasizing the importance of inviting young people—including young women, indigenous people, and those with disabilities—to decision-making tables and implementation platforms.
She also stressed that young people’s calls to action are not going away, saying, “Whether the COVID pandemic hits us or not, our demands are not decreasing. They are increasing day by day!” She called on her fellow youth to do a lot of work in the run-up to COP 26, as we have more time for preparation than usual and can draw on virtual platforms. She highlighted the unique urgency of this moment we are in, acknowledging the severity of its challenges but also the miraculous mobilization we’ve seen from so many different generations to drive climate action.
Meaningful Youth Participation in Climate Action
Rachele Rizzo, Youth Section Coordinator & UNFCCC Focal Point for the Italian Climate Network, spoke on the Italian government’s plan to open up a stage for meaningful youth engagement at the upcoming Pre-COP in Milan, which will be preceded by a dedicated youth event making space for climate dialogue between youth, members of civil society, and government negotiators. “In Italy,” Rizzo said, “the news of the Youth4Climate event was welcomed well, because it will be a very good bridge between the youth and national institutions and will teach us how this is connected to the international processes, which is very crucial for young people.”
Recalling that Italy was one of the countries that supported intergenerational equity in the preamble of the Paris Agreement, and that Italian leaders signed a pledge committing to youth engagement in climate action discussions, Rizzo said she appreciated this initiative and was hopeful it would pave the way for systemic engagement. She also praised the Italian government's decision to include sustainable development in school curricula to reach youth directly, and its collaboration with youth organizations like YOUNGO on preparations for the Pre-COP. She hopes youth will prepare well for the event next year.
Following Rizzo’s remarks, Sergio Costa, Italy’s Minister for Environment, Land, and Sea, delivered a special video announcement about the Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition event taking place in Milan from September 28-30, 2021, which will be organized by Italy in partnership with the United Kingdom and which will be the first event of its kind in the history of the Conference of the Parties. Dedicated entirely to young people, Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition will immediately precede the Pre-COP and will host some 400 hundred youths. “There will be one more nation at the Pre-COP,” Costa said: “the Nation of Young People!”
Jayathma Wickramayake, the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, also offered reflections at the end of the panel. She agreed on what had been said by the panelists and reiterated that youth engagement with policy-making at the local level is extremely important. She called on young people everywhere to contribute to the formulation of their countries’ enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which are due for submission before COP 26. Lastly, during the Q&A sessions, she elaborated on what “meaningful youth engagement” means, calling for: 1) institutional mandates to bring youth to the table; 2) the creation of safe spaces for intergenerational climate dialogue; 3) the allocation of funds specifically for youth engagement; and 4) the closing of harmful feedback loops that dissuade young people from participation.
Last but not least, the words Ongoing, Meaningful, Reinvigorating, and Reassuring were chosen by the panelists to sum up the event. Stay tuned for Episode 4 of the #Youth4ClimateLive Series, which will be held on September 25, 2020 on the theme “Driving Nature-Based Solutions.” And in the meantime, take part in Connect4Climate's just-announced #SumItUp competition for a chance to win a place at the Pre-COP youth event in Milan!
