In September 2020, Youth4Nature joined Youth and Environment Europe* to design a series of youth-led webinars and online dialogues for #ClimateOfChange, a pan-European campaign to build a better future for climate-induced migrants and the effect of the climate crisis on the region.
“End Climate Change, Start Climate of Change”
Throughout the last months of 2020, we focused on designing a series of virtual events to highlight some often ignored dimensions of the climate crisis such as the effect of climate change on health, the nexus between nature and climate, and the effects of climate change on migration.
Quote from Lillo Montalto Monella - Journalist Euronews
As we strive to feature new topics to better seize the climate crisis, the virtual series led us to explore many different themes. Climate-induced migration, for example, is already happening and brings many challenges both to so-called developing and developed countries. Marta Rodriguez and Lillo Montalto shared with us their experience of meeting with people already affected by climate migration, even in Europe - where decision-makers underplay the effect climate change is already having on our lives. From Cotul Mori in Moldova to La-Faute-Sur-Mer in France, the journalists told us about ghost towns and homes being completely destroyed after severe floodings (See their webseries on Euronews).
View the full Climate Change and Migration online panel discussion here.
As we focused on the interlinkages between the climate crisis and socio-political issues, we explored how climate change and the destruction of the environment are threatening our health. Due to increasing weather events and subtle temperature increases, there are more risks for new diseases -such as COVID19-, cardiovascular failures and even food security. Gender is another case of the entanglement between the environment and social structures. For instance, environmental problems tend to exacerbate women’s poverty and tend to increase the burden of domestic work.
Quote from Pearl Anne Ante-Testard
Rewatch the Climate Change & Public Health webinar here.
As the series aimed at introducing new and under-reported topics to young people, we dove into the complexity of Nature-Based Solutions and the climate and nature nexus. We were joined by our remarkable Global Ambassador, Amanda Krijgsman, currently working at the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Carefully working around the definition of Nature-Based Solutions, the different speakers highlighted the necessity of being precautious with it. One of the key issues when promoting natural solutions to tackle the climate crisis is to avoid using those solutions as an excuse for green-washing and oppression of local communities. To carefully draw a line between good and bad Nature-Based Solutions, they must be made context-specific and informed not only by science but also by Indigenous and local knowledge.
The webinar also touched upon the specific context of the European Union where a Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 was just adopted. At the core of it lies a commitment to create a legally binding nature “restoration law” in 2021.
Finally, to bring together these topics and key learnings, we gathered the participants for a first of the kind youth-led dialogue with the Director of the Directorate-General for Climate Action of the European Commission. Bringing together empowered young people is a necessity to put pressure on our policy-makers.
Young activists such as Nisreen Elsaim, Sudanese climate activist Vladislav Kaim, a young Moldovan economist and Venetia Galanaki, YEE’s liaison officer on Oceans, addressed respectively the need for greater funding from the EU for Africa, the problematic fossil fuel dependency of Eastern European countries and the regional impacts of EU’s climate policies. Mauro Petriccione touched upon many points explaining that the climate crisis needs to be at the core of the design of all policies. Touched upon Africa, the Arctic and the need for urgent climate action to limit irreversible damages to our environment. At the end, the Director congratulated the youth movements for their efforts and committed to meeting with young people again in the future.
For more on this compelling dialogue with the DG CLIMA, find the full video here.
We encourage you to listen to any of the above mentioned webinars to learn more about these under-realised and deeply intersectional challenges of the climate crisis. As we enter a new decade, we must be looking at the climate, ecological, and other social crises as interconnected. We need innovation, collaboration and hope. We need youth!
Follow Youth and Environment Europe and Youth for Nature to keep up to date on our new projects and how you can get involved in the year to come.
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*Youth and Environment Europe is Europe’s largest independent network of youth-led environmental NGOs. Founded in 1983, it gathers 50+ youth environmental NGOs in 30+ countries.