Alex Rose-Innes
The Global Youth Environment Assembly 2022 will take place ahead of the fifth session of the United Nation Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) and this year the meeting is to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in East Africa.
From 18 to 20 February, the Assembly will focus on the UNEA-5 theme of “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,” calling for strengthened action to protect and restore nature and nature-based solutions to achieve the SDG’s in its three complementary dimensions (social, economic and environmental). The UNEA is the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment with universal membership of all 193 UN member states and the full involvement of major groups and stakeholders
Facilitated by constituents of the Children and Youth Major Group, consideration would be given on how to enhance meaningful youth engagement and is expected to produce a Youth Declaration capturing major recommendations from youth on UNEA, the work of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and broader environmental processes.
The Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) is the official voice of young people under 30 years on sustainable development at the United Nations. It engages with young people from across the world and through networking and collaborating puts together strong teams contributing to policy negotiations. The MGCY also works to inspire and platform youth activism through a series of working groups, aimed at bringing people together to help build the global youth voice.
Other important topics at the meeting will include biodiversity, human settlements and population, as well as chemicals and wastes, which if not sustainably managed, would continue to negatively affect climate change.
On the agenda will be global partnerships, stakeholder participation and means of implementation. Capacity building and education would be addressed by UNEP, various stakeholders and major groups which are supportive of the UN, its programmes, agencies and funds. Because of its global importance, the meeting could be attended virtually as well on https://www.youthenvironment.org/yea and before 5 March, two additional dates (to be announced) would once again highlight the event.
