UN Chief Urges Young People Worldwide to Join Online and in Local Communities
By Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN) – In an obvious expression of support for the ‘FridaysforFuture’ movement, whose initiator Greta Thunberg is sailing to New York, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is keen to mobilize youth for what he has termed “the defining issue of our time”. One hundred outstanding young climate champions chosen from around the world will receive support to participate in the first-ever UN Youth Climate Summit on September 21 at the UN Headquarters in New York.
According to the UN Department of Global Communications, the ‘Green Ticket’ winners will join the more than 500 young climate leaders selected to participate in the Youth Summit, purported to provide a platform for young climate leaders to showcase their solutions on a global stage and engage directly with decision-makers. Youth leaders will present the discussions of the Youth Climate Summit at the Climate Action Summit on September 23.
The 100 ‘Green Ticket’ winners will receive funded travel as carbon-neutral as possible to New York to attend the Youth Climate Summit, after being selected from a group of over 7,000 applicants between the ages of 18 to 29, based on their demonstrated commitment to addressing the climate crisis and advancing solutions. Recipients represent countries from all regions.
Guterres congratulated ‘Green Ticket’ recipients and all successful applicants in a video message, saying, “I appeal to young people around the world to follow the Summit online and to be drivers of climate action in their own countries.”
Young people who are unable to attend in person are encouraged to participate in the My Future Our Planet campaign by sharing a selfie video on Twitter or Instagram with the phrase “Youth #ClimateAction Summit”, declaring what actions they are already taking to fight climate change and asking their leaders to take climate action now.
They can also get involved in local United Nations Association chapters; continue to make choices to have less harmful effects on the environment and track these efforts through the UN’s ActNow campaign; and tune into the Youth Climate Summit virtually via livestream on UN Web TV. More ways to engage will be announced in the coming weeks on the UN Youth Climate Summit website.
“The Youth Climate Summit will feature a full-day of programming that brings together young activists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and change-makers who are committed to combating climate change at the pace and scale necessary, as demonstrated by science. It will be action-oriented, intergenerational, and inclusive, with equitable representation of young leaders from all walks of life,” said the UN Department of Global Communications on August 20.
The Youth Climate Summit is a key milestone ahead of the Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, which is calling on leaders from government, business and civil society to boost efforts to tackle climate change and comes just one day after the Global Climate Strike on September 20 to be joined by Greta Thunberg.
“Young people are leading the way on climate action,” said the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake. “The Secretary-General’s Youth Climate Summit will provide a powerful global platform for young climate leaders from all over the world to take their rightful place and drive positive climate solutions.”
With the devastating impacts of the climate crisis being felt right now in all countries, Guterres is convening leaders in New York to spark the transformation that is urgently needed to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement and deliver on the Global Goals. He has called for bold actions and concrete plans for carbon neutrality by 2050.
The announcement of the Green Ticket call for applications took place from June 30 to July 1 in Abu Dhabi, where the Secretary-General convened over 1,700 people – including youth leaders and representatives from over 160 countries around the world. The Secretary-General’s public dialogue with young leaders during his opening ceremony, moderated by the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Jayathma Wickramanayake, is available to view here.
More information on the UN Youth Climate Summit is available at https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/youth-summit.shtml. Follow @UNYouthEnvoy on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates on the Youth Climate Summit.
For further information on the 2019 UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, please visit https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/index.shtml. Follow @ledealba on Twitter for all the latest breaking news on the Climate Action Summit. [IDN-InDepthNews – 21 August 2019]
Photo: Offshore wind turbines. Credit: UN
IDN is flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate.
facebook.com/IDN.GoingDeeper – twitter.com/InDepthNews