Start personal
1. Develop a youth-futuristic perspective on the Climate crisis and solutions in the Arab region
As youth in the nature and climate space, our responsibility is to call upon decision-makers for policies that benefit climate, biodiversity, and people - especially those most affected, including Indigenous, local, and frontline communities, youth, and women and girls. In order to achieve that, we must promote Nature-based Solutions which tackle all three together by highlighting stories of local initiatives, fighting co-option, and delivering the message to decision-makers whether at events, demonstrations, petitions, campaigns, or other activities that call for policy implementation or action.
Start off by understanding the state in which the Arab region is in. Familiarize yourself with climate change impacts happening in the region, the threats to biodiversity and Indigenous communities today and in the future, the solutions that already exist to address these crises, and the potential of nature for tackling these issues.
The clearer and more holistic our vision is, the better we are able to articulate our demands and the easier it is to share our values amongst each other in a collaborative manner.
2. Learn about nature-based solutions
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are a bit more complex than they sound. Because of this, it is important to familiarize yourself with what NbS are and what they are not. Our Policy Task Force teamed up with YOUNGO and GYBN to develop the first ever unified Youth Position Statement on NbS. More here.
After reading and learning about NbS, you might still be unsure which initiatives are considered NbS or which are not. Two types of confusion on NbS exist:
Occasionally, practical project implementation misses out on all the necessary factors to be defined as NbS. For an initiative to be termed as NbS, it should provide biodiversity benefits, contribute to solving the climate crisis, and provide societal benefits to local communities.
Additionally, as the concept of NbS gains mainstream popularity, we are seeing happen more and more greenwashing and co-option of the term. Co-option or greenwashing are when public or private organizations use greening activities such as monoculture tree-planting as an excuse to continue harming the environment and contributing to the climate crisis.
Once you’ve learned when and how NbS are applied and how co-option is used, you can then become a youth advocate promoting NbS by calling decision-makers to implement national, regional, and global policies in their NDCs or environmental laws that consider NbS as part of their solution to the climate crisis.
For specific projects or NbS promotion and call-outs that need attention in West Asia please reach out to Rayan Kassem, our Regional Director for West Asia, for support.
You can also learn more about specific examples of NbS case studies by on the Nature-Based Solutions Initiatives website.
3. share your story about climate and/or nature
One of our pillars of work at Y4N is Storytelling. We are currently hosting a Storytelling Campaign to amplify the urgent messages, community-centred action, and solution-oriented work of youth in the nature and climate space. Stories of local actions and solutions, as well as climate justice related stories are welcomed, especially from the Arab region and the Arab diaspora who are often underrepresented in this space. If you have a story to share or know of other youth who have been demonstrating leadership in this space, we’d love to highlight their story and present them with the many opportunities we have in store for our storytelling community! All guidelines and submission criteria can be found here in English and here in Arabic.
Think about your community
4. Foster discussions on nature & climate among your peers
While you learning, invite others to learn with you!
You don't need us to tell you that there is a lot going on in the Arab world, and that because of this, the topic of climate and nature fall to the wayside.
But, what if we told you that when we are able to think of solutions to climate and ecological crises in line with solutions to humanitarian crises, we can build back better for everyone and for our future. When we put justice - whether social justice, climate justice, intergenerational justice, gender justice or other - at the centre of the conversation, we can generate big solutions to complex problems. One of the best places to start having conversations about climate, nature and justice is with your circle of influence. This might be your family, your friends or your colleagues. Starting system-thinking, solution oriented, hopeful conversations about climate, nature and justice with your circle of influence may seem small (or maybe it feels daunting!) but is an important - and ongoing - action that we can all take in an effort to shift the needle.
5. Launch a youth-led climate action organization
We highly encourage youth across the region to take on entrepreneurship in the climate and nature spaces! Think about opportunities to start a club at your school, how you can make change in your workplace, or even launch a committee neighbourhood or municipality. You could focus on advocacy or start a project focused on implementation! The options are endless. Before you start: be sure to do some research to see if anyone else is doing similar work. No need to reinvent the wheel if you can collaborate instead! We are open to share opportunities and challenges we face as a youth-led organization in the nature and climate space.
National & Regional
6. Join or Launch a Global Youth Biodiversity Network chapter in your country
The Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) is a network of youth who are mobilizing to prevent the loss of biodiversity and protect natural resources. GYBN seeks to inspire global youth and future leaders to work for the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in order to ensure a healthy global environment and enduring societies.. There are GYBN chapters across the Arab world, including in Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco that are always welcoming new members. You can also start a new chapter in your country by clicking here.
7. Focus on national and regional coalitions
We are constantly trying to partner up and collaborate with organizations in the nature and climate space across the Arab World whether it’s on a national or regional level. If you are an organization, a group, or an individual and have projects you’d like to collaborate on, please contact Rayan at rayan@youth4nature.org.
Environmental NGOs are underrepresented across the Arab region. In the nature and climate space, Y4N and the Arab Youth Climate Movement chapters are two youth-led organizations that are focused on the climate crises in West Asia. We acknowledge the need for more collaborative work from youth-led and climate-focused organizations in the region to inflect wide-scale influence. As a youth-led NGO we are committed to showcase youth stewardship be it through our work or work of other youth or organizations!
8. Stay updated with NDCs
Every country has set up its own Nationally Determined Contributions in which they highlight adaptation and mitigation actions, policies, and measures for the climate crisis, as outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement. NDCs are to be updated every five years, which means that many countries have just updated theirs in 2020 and/or are still working on them! Most countries outline their NDCs on their Ministry of Environment’s webpage. Being involved and getting informed about your country’s NDCs will allow you to position yourself and commitments being set out to better shape your demands for the future.
9. Join or give input to regional focal points involved in the UNEP Major Group for Children and Youth
Our Regional Director for West Asia, Rayan Kassem, is the Regional Youth Focal Point in support of the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 and the thematic facilitator on nature and food security on the steering committee on UNEP Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY). Y4N is promoting Arab youth voices on these topics at the UN level under these mandates and would love to hear from you! Collaboration and involvement under Rayan’s work or other regional facilitators can be addressed through Rayan. Don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Go global
10. Get involved with Youth4Nature (of course!)
We couldn’t share 10 ways to get involved without including Y4N on the list!
Y4N Global Ambassadors have the opportunity to engage youth on a national and regional level by hosting their own events, speaking at Y4N’s events, writing blogs, creating knowledge-sharing posts, campaigning, leading and participating in task forces, and contributing to the work of Regional Directors. Regional leads and task forces host internal events that contribute to capacity-building of Y4N’s team members, creating an aligned understanding of our work to enable team members to equally engage in thematic discussions and outreach.
*at the moment our West Asia team is full, but if you do apply we will keep your information for a later date!
In the meantime, sign up for our newsletter! We send out a newsletter every month which includes updates, opportunities, news, and events we’re hosting or involved in, specific to nature, climate, youth and justice. You can also follow us on social media for more:
Cover image by Azin Javadzadeh on Unsplash