Our experiences in New York City were as complex, diverse, and individual as our delegates, and for that we are grateful to have a forum to share this knowledge with each other, and with you.
While our experiences were diverse, we're in agreement on this: nature-based solutions are building momentum, and youth are rising to the challenge.
While it is difficult to put the calamity of New York Climate Week into words, here are some that best describe our time.
Friday, September 20th: Back left: Iris Del Sol, Emma Thornton, Marina Melanidis, Paul Mutuku, Emily B. N’Dombaxe Dola, & Amanda Krijgsman. Front left: Caroline Merner, Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo, Laura Malikova, Ira Galiuk, & Hailey May.
Youth4Nature in the news:
NowThis News: Youth4Nature Project Lead, Marina Melanidis, gives a speech at UNHQ. "Young people deserve to co-design their own futures, and honestly, you can't do it without us."
The Guardian: "It’s not just Greta Thunberg: why are we ignoring the developing world’s inspiring activists?"
The Conversation: "‘We will never forgive you’: youth is not wasted on the young who fight for climate justice"
The University of Sydney Science: "Young leaders driving climate action showcase their solutions"
Instituto Socioambiental: Na Cúpula do Clima, jovens apresentam soluções para as mudanças climáticas
Folha de S. Paulo: Com Greta Thunberg, jovens enviam ‘lições aos adultos’ na greve pelo clima em Nova York
UK Inform: A Ukrainian woman at the UN Youth Climate Summit spoke about the safety of eco-activists
The Schedule:
Friday, September 20th
Our week started with an epic kickoff, taking to the streets to march for climate action, nature-based solutions, and youth involvement alongside 250,000 other people in New York City alone. Worldwide, over 4 million people striked for climate on this date. The energy and frustration from the crowd reminded us of our privilege to have a voice, and our purpose for this trip: to fight for meaningful climate action that includes nature and youth.
In the news:
Friday, September 20th: Part of our team at the Climate Strike on September 20th, as part of #FridaysforFuture. From back left to right: Hailey May, Emily B. N'Dombaxe Dola, Amanda Krijgsman, Laura Malikova, and Paul Mutuku. Bottom left: Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo, Caroline Merner, Marina Melanidis, and Emma Thornton.
Friday, September 20th: Top (back left): Iris Del Sol, Emily B. N’Dombaxe Dola, Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo, Paul Mutuku, Vania Olmos Lau, & Amanda Krijgsman. Front left: Caroline Merner, Ira Galiuk, Hailey May, and Marina Melanidis. Bottom left: Elujulo Opeyemi, our Storyteller representing the Africa Region, strikes in his home country of Nigeria. Bottom right: Sebastien Willemart, our Regional Coordinator for the Western Europe & Others Region, strikes in his home country of Belgium.
Saturday, September 21st
This day marked the beginning of the official proceedings of the 2019 United Nation's Climate Action Summit starting with the Youth Climate Summit and invite-only track meetings focused on nature-based solutions, energy, industry, and others.
"The Youth Climate Summit—the first time the UN has convened a summit for young people completely devoted to climate action — aimed to give voice to the demands of young people. [...] The Summit opened a dialogue between youth and decision makers, putting young people in the driving seat with voice and agency to realize their potential and the change they are persisting towards climate action."
The outcomes of the Youth CAS were intended to feed in to the proceedings of the three-day UN Climate Action Summit beginning on September 23rd, with world leaders, CEOs, and civil society leaders in attendance. While the Youth Summit was a key stepping stone in furthering meaningful engagement of young people, its outcomes - and how they feed into larger climate action - are unclear.
Members of our delegation spoke in the March for Science SDG Media Zone, including:
Iris Del Sol, Storyteller from Ukraine: Coordinating the first and largest independent environmental movement in the Ukraine, to protect a biodiversity hotspot from development
Paul Mutuku, Regional Coordinator from Kenya; Citizen led waste recycling & biodiversity conservation in Kenya.
Vania Olmos Lau, Regional Coordinator from Mexico: How working on ecosystem based adaptation has shaped how I see nature in my city
Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo, Storyteller from Brazil: Linking the current issues in the Amazon (deforestation + fires) to community-based forestry as a nature-based solution
Saturday, September 21st: From left to right: Danilo Ignacio de Urzedo, Paul Mutuku, Marina Melanidis, and Iris Del Sol sat on a panel about the power of narrative in the Sustainable Development Goals Media Zone at UNHQ. They discussed their experiences with reforestation, community development, and resisting deforestation, while sharing the importance of storytelling as a tool for communication. Full video (Part 1, starts at 39:03).
In the news:
UN: Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the young people gathered at the Summit by saying, “We are not yet there. But there is a change in momentum. Largely this change in momentum was due to your [Greta Thunberg’s] initiative, and to the courage with which you have started this movement. [...] My generation has a huge responsibility. It is your generation that must hold us accountable to make sure we don’t betray the future of humankind.”
Sunday, September 22nd
This day marked the beginning of our time at the Nature's Climate Hub, and the first day of our flagship Storytelling Exhibition!
Nature’s Climate Hub operated as a collaborative venture between 20 partners to bring to life the power of nature-based solutions to address the climate crisis. Through four days of programming, dozens of organisations and institutions, including governments, companies, NGOs, academic bodies and community groups, ran their own sessions on a variety of issues relating to climate change and nature. The four days were structured thematically: Sunday 22nd September for forests and restoration; Monday 23rd September for food, agriculture and soils; Tuesday 24th September for the ocean, freshwater and marine ecosystems; and Wednesday 25th September for sessions that cut across all of the above, in particular around the Sustainable Development Goals.
The hub’s sessions ranged from ‘Big Ideas’ talks with scientists to high-level plenaries with policymakers, from engaging panel discussions with climate/nature leaders to interactive workshops by community organisers. On the evenings, receptions took place, including an event on transforming food and land systems, a gathering on financing nature-based solutions and the Great Green Wall of Africa, a film screening on how shellfish growers are tackling climate change, and a closing rally on mobilising for nature-based solutions at the Central Park Zoo.
Over the course of three days, we shared dozens of stories from young people spanning every UN Region through the use of photography, essays, poems, videography, and spoken word pieces. The Global Power of Youth, Nature and Stories: the Youth4Nature Storytelling Exhibition was many of our favourite parts of this trip. We were able to share and uplift the voices of young people around the world who are working with and for nature-based solutions, and their voices were heard.
Our strategic position at the Hub put us in the centre with civil society members, business people, nonprofit representatives, and other youth. We shared our stories, and they shared theirs, in an excellent example of the power of narrative. Through storytelling, we were able to connect them to the work of young people around the world, being done on the ground at this very moment. Hundreds of people saw, read, and listened to youth voices, and we are working hard to follow up on these connections made so that we can open up even more space for other young voices.
Sunday, September 22nd: Part of our Storytelling Exhibition on the Forests and Restoration Day of the Nature's Climate Hub.
Sunday, September 22nd: Project Lead, Marina Melanidis, gives a speech at a reception on the importance of breaking down barriers for youth in order for them to represent themselves in high-level spaces.
Monday, September 23rd
Day two of the Nature's Climate Hub focused on Food, Soils, & Agriculture. This was our busiest day by far, with the Youth4Nature team coming together and pulling off: a speech at the UN Climate Action Summit, representing Mexico as an official Youth delegate to the UN, TWO full by-youth, for-youth workshops at the Nature's Climate Hub, and another full day of the Storytelling Exhibition.
Monday, September 23rd: A snapshot of our Storytelling Exhibition on the Food, Soils, and Agriculture day at the Nature's Climate Hub.
The day began with our workshop: Mobilizing for Climate & Ecological Justice: In Conversation with Youth "Juliana" Plaintiffs Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and Vic Barrett. This open conversation was in partnership with Our Children's Trust and the Youth V. Gov movement, where 21 young "Juliana" plaintiffs are suing the United States federal government to defend their rights to a healthy and prosperous future.
The conversation flew by, with Xiuhtezcatl delivering an open and honest dialogue on his journey as a young Indigenous climate activist, plaintiff, and artist. We are grateful for his candour, and learnt many lessons on continuing to fight for the planet through the judicial system and beyond.
We then started preparing for our external workshop: Youth Empowerment in the Face of Climate & Ecological Breakdown that occurred later that afternoon in the Hub. This workshop focused on analyzing our modes of thinking about nature-based solutions, and was a great opportunity for informal discussion between attendees and our team on how best to address environmental activism as young people. We spent the better portion of two hours sharing best practices, and got to learn about the incredible work being done by all the youth in the room spanning international borders, cultures, and languages. It was a great opportunity to connect with other empowered young people, and determine how to bring our knowledge back to our communities!
Monday, September 23rd: Emma Thornton, our Coordination Associate, moderates a discussion with Xiuhtezcatl Martinez during our morning workshop.
Monday, September 23rd: Project Lead Marina Melanidis delivers a speech on the value of youth to the assembly on the first day of the Climate Action Summit.
Monday, September 23rd: Vania Olmos Lau, our Regional Coordinator for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, stands with Marcelo Ebrard, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Mexico at the UN Climate Action Summit.
Tuesday, September 24th
After the overwhelming success of Mondays activities, we all tried to recover our energy for the remaining two days of events. Day three of the Hub focused on Ocean, Freshwater, and Marine Ecosystems!
True to our natures and despite not having official programming for this day, we wasted no time and threw ourselves into organizing meetings with partners, networking, helping the Nature4Climate staff at the Hub, giving speeches at the UN Development Programme office, and interviewing for media publications. Most of our delegation ended the day by attending the Equator Prize Ceremony, which "is awarded biennially to recognize outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity". 22 communities comprising many Indigenous and local efforts were honoured for their work!
Tuesday, September 24th: Our Storytelling exhibition from the Ocean, Freshwater, and Marine Ecosystems day at the Nature's Climate Hub.
Tuesday, September 24th: View of the stage from the Equator Prize 2019 ceremony.
Tuesday, September 24th: Amanda Krijgsman, our Storyteller from the Netherlands, has dinner with a Dutch Ambassador and staff.
Wednesday, September 25th:
The last full day of our official New York trip coincided with the last day of the Nature's Climate Hub, with this day being held at the Central Park Zoo.
We started the day with our last workshop, "Building a Youth Movement for Nature & Climate: 2020 and Beyond". This internal, invitation-only workshop was an opportunity for us to come together with our community of youth and brainstorm the direction of our organization and our movement. With a select crowd, we were able to work efficiently to come up with and share our ideas. Thank you to all of the attendees for the great dialogue, and for your valuable insight!
We then finished the day by attending (and working) the invitation-only evening rally and reception at the Hub. With speakers from the Wildlife Conservation Society, United Nations Development Program, World Resources Institute, Global Wildlife Conservation, Rainforest Foundation Norway - and Youth4Nature - we were able to listen to calls to action and network with other nature-based solutions actors. As some of the select few youth in the room (which was a theme of our trip), we were often searched out by people interested in the youth movement, which sparked some interesting conversations and future partnerships. We all went to bed simultaneously energized and exhausted, and keen to unpack the meaning behind our experiences.
In the news:
Wednesday, September 25th: Delegates from the Youth4Nature team and community members share their brainstorms after the 2020 and Beyond workshop.
In conclusion
Firstly, we'd like to thank the Nature4Climate team from the bottom of our hearts for all of their guidance, support, and encouragement both in New York and beyond. We are grateful to you all for giving Youth4Nature - and youth in general - a spot at the table, and a true physical space in the Hub. We are so excited to continue our partnership in the future, and to continue to share more youth voices!
Secondly, we'd like to thank The Nature Conservancy for providing the financial resources for us all to attend the New York Climate Week proceedings.
Thirdly, we'd like to thank our delegates for their hard work, lost sleep, and continuous enthusiasm for the work that they do and bring to our team. This would not have been possible without you!
Lastly, a big thank you to... you! The readers, supporters, encouragers, attendees, mentors, mentees, and all other community members that make our organization better and stronger. Thank you for your work to support climate action, nature-based solutions, and youth.