Lima, December 4, 2014. A number of youth-oriented organizations convened today at a COP20 side event to discuss how awareness, education and active participation of citizens from an early age can help pave the way towards climate resilience. The goal of the discussion, which was opened by Ms. Donna Goodman of the Earth Child Institute, was to explore avenues of weaving Education, Training and Public Awareness (UNFCCC Article #6) into the upcoming 2015 Climate Change agreement. Specifically, the participants were interested in increasing understanding about how children and youth can be inspired to local, regional and international action through skill building and demonstration of good practices. With more than 100 people participating, the side event was well attended and included a lively discussion.

"We need to strengthen, empower, and inspire youth to take action on climate change", Delfin Ganapin, Global Manager of the UNDP-implemented GEF Small Grants Programme pointed out. "Community-based projects are an important tool for catalyzing youth empowerment and action on climate change. They also provide youth with important, real world field and community experience"

Another objective of the event was to generate a well-resourced momentum to create a network of youth and environment-focused organizations around the world. "The future is with youth and we need to let them take the lead", Mr. Ganapin emphasized. Therefore, building consensus among policymakers that youth and children are very important stakeholders that need to be involved in decision-making processes, is imperative. This will ensure both short and long term sustainable development goals levels.

         

The event also featured three youth speakers from the Asian Youth Climate Network (AYCN),that is Ms. Hope Hsu from the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition, Ms. Takuya Hattori from Climate Youth Japan and Mr. Jin Young Kim from the Green Environment Youth Japan. Sharing their experiences on networking and capacity building, the speakers stressed the fact that youth can not only be taught but also can teach each other and influence the world. "We youth have power, but we need your support to overcome the difficulties such as resources and our expectations towards the 2015 climate change agreement", one of the speakers noted.

The side event was organized by the Earth Child Institute and included speakers from the GEF Small Grants Programme, Joint Framework Initiative on Children Youth and Climate Change, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance (YUNGA), the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition (TWYCC), Climate Youth Japan (CYJ), Green Environment Youth Japan (GEYK), the National REDD+ Agency of the Republic of Indonesia, UNORCID, UNESCO, and ANIA (a Peruvian NGO). 

For more information contact Katharina Davis, GEF Small Grants Programme, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..