Session 0 – Youth taking action on Nature
Youth has been a long-standing actor in matters related to the environment and biodiversity. The knowledge, creativity and dynamism they hold will be key to the implementation and success of any of the decisions or strategies agreed upon at CBD COP15, UNGA and any other multilateral environmental agreement. Yet, their global recognition is quite recent, and policy-makers are yet to include young people from all walks of life and expertise in their decision processes. Under the perspective of nature and nature-based solutions, the “Youth taking action” session offered enlightening examples of young leaders committing to finding local solutions, scaling them up, raising awareness and participating in a global movement for Nature.
Together, they issued a Youth Manifesto, urging world leaders to take the next steps towards protecting Nature and their future, and to turn decisions into concrete actions for our environment.
Sign the Youth Manifesto here.
Local action on nature is essential if we are to bend the curve on nature loss. Yet isolated actions often lack the impact required to have meaningful change at scale. We must find ways to accelerate and magnify local action, and to scale up impact. This session featured seven lightning talks on how successful local initiatives were able to scale up their initiative and create larger impact at a broader scale. This session also included an interactive dialogue that identifies common themes, preconditions and pathways to accelerate the scaling up of local initiatives in order to tackle our planetary emergency, culminating in a collection of partner commitments to help scale up local solutions, including scaling up through policies and legal frameworks; through learning, dialogue and replication; through finance and funding; and through expansion of existing pilots, among others.
“Urgent action by local and subnational governments to protect biodiversity and mainstream nature is essential if we are to create resilient cities and regions, with healthy, thriving communities. The global CitiesWithNature initiative provides a platform to connect, share, learn from each other, and scale up action to ensure a sustainable urban future, where people are reconnected with nature.” Ms. Kobie Brand, Global Director: ICLEI Cities Biodiversity Center
