Special News and Events
Youth from the Nordic Region and the preparation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
In 2019 the Nordic Council (Nordic parliaments) and the Nordic Council of Ministers (representing Nordic governments) of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Aaland decided on a joint initiative aimed at giving young people in Nordic countries the possibility of influencing the development of the Global Biodiversity Framework, thereby creating ownership of, engagement in, and trust in the political processes.
Lessons learnt – Including Youth in the Shaping of the Global Biodiversity Framework presents an outline of the guiding principles for Nordic youth engagement to avoid tokenism, lessons learnt and a summary of a Nordic initiative to engage Nordic youth in development and negotiations of the Global Biodiversity Framework which was adopted in Montreal December 2022.
Youth at CBD COP 15 part 1 and 2
Youth actively participated in the first part of the
UN Biodiversity Conference, which was held virtually from 11 to 15 October 2021.
Read more about their engagement in the meetings!
Hundreds of young people from dozens of countries participated in the second part of the UN Biodiversity Conference, from 7 to 19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada. Among other activities, young delegates led a Youth SUmmit, a Youth Day, a youth hub in Place Quebec, side-events, exhibitions, marches and caucuses to coordinate young's people views on the CBD negotiations including on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Youth at UNFCCC COP 26
Among other activities, representatives of the Global Youth Biodiversity Network and other youth participated in the event “Restoring Balance with Nature: Dialogue on Youth Contributions to the Rio Conventions” held from 11:00 to 12:30 on 5 November (Youth Day) at the Global Environment Facility and Rio Convention Pavilion of the COP 26 venue in Glasgow. Watch the session
here.
Global Youth Biodiversity Network
Stay connected: follow the activities of the
Global Youth Biodiversity Network !
Youth and COVID 19
On 22 April 2020, 50 members of the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (UN IANYD) released a joint statement calling for:
- partnering, safely and effectively, with young people during and after the COVID-19 crisis
- recognizing young people’s own actions and their potential to advance the fight against the pandemic
- understanding the specific impacts the pandemic has and will have on young people
The statement notably reminds us that young people are already leveraging their strengths to develop and implement solutions to the COVID-19 and related challenges including climate change and biodiversity loss.
Read the joint statement
here
Youth, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Goals
At the occasion of the High Level Event of the President of the General Assembly in September 2014, Debora, 23 years old, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, delivered a statement on the need to take planet boundaries into account in defining the Sustainable Development Goals :
"Young People’s rights are not just about education and employment. And neither are the
planet’s resources infinite... >>