CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR COP15 ACTIVITIES BELOW:
Youth4Nature is going to COP15!
Montréal, Canada
The 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity is finally happening, after a 2-year pandemic-induced delay, in Montréal, Canada.
The conference, occurring from December 7 - 19, 2022, will be the largest and most important global event for biodiversity in over a decade. Nations are tasked with finalizing the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which is set to become the “Paris Agreement for nature” and will drive nature-related policies from international to local scales for the next ten years. It is critical that this new framework is ambitious, inclusive, and rights-based if we are to halt and reverse catastrophic losses of biodiversity, and limit warming to 1.5 degrees.
Youth are leaders for nature and climate, and we will be at the table
While the biodiversity COPs tend to receive less media attention than the climate COPs, we at Youth4Nature know that we cannot address the climate crisis without nature. We also cannot address the climate crisis without youth, or without justice. We will be spreading this message on-the-ground in Montréal to take up the space that is rightfully ours as global youth, and ensure that youth perspectives are reflected in the conference’s outcomes.
At COP15, Youth4Nature will:
Advocate for the inclusion of and meaningful support for youth and other underrepresented/intersectional identities, for rights-based approaches, and for the explicit connections between nature and climate in global environmental governance and decision-making, within the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, through policy positions and knowledge-sharing work;
Promote the Global NbS Statement, ensure that youth voices are included in NbS discourses and debates, call out false solutions and greenwashing, and if “nature-based solutions” are to be incorporated in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, ensure it aligns with the Statement’s messages of rights and justice;
Establish our position as a climate-nature nexus organisation by clearly linking the outcomes from COP27 to COP15, contributing to our mission to bridge the nature-climate movements; and,
Grow relationships/build connections in the global biodiversity space, especially with other youth and Indigenous groups who are leading the way for nature in their communities, and find new ways/improve the ways we collaborate with and show solidarity towards these leaders.
We will also be at the COP15 Youth Summit, which is hosted by our friends at the Global Youth Biodiversity Network, where we will be contributing to some of the programming!
Follow along with our journey! Check us out on all the socials below:
Meet our delegation:
Oluwaseun Adekugbe
Nigeria | she/her
Delegation role: Delegation Lead
Julia Bethe
France I she/her
Delegation role: Policy & Advocacy Lead
Born and raised in Nigeria, Oluwaseun is a passionate advocate of the climate and nature nexus. Specifically, she is interested in how we can build holistic solutions that will benefit the planet and everyone. Oluwaseun holds a bachelor’s degree in Forestry and pursuing a master’s degree in Sustainable Forest and Nature Management. As someone who has extensive experience in policy and advocacy around forestry, and biodiversity conservation, COP15 will provide Oluwaseun with the opportunity to share her learnings on inclusiveness and transparency, as well as her understanding of underrepresented/intersectional identities and the explicit connection between biodiversity and climate in global environmental governance and decision-making.
Oluwaseun is also keen on connecting with other youth groups at COP15 and establishing a more meaningful relationship with organisations and youth groups that care for the planet as she does. Oluwaseun firmly believes that the solutions we need are found through collaborative actions. Therefore, she looks forward to working to create a more solidaristic Y4N at COP15.
Are you planning to attend COP15 as well? Let's connect and work together!
Julia Bethe is a French young interdisciplinary specialist in climate and nature issues. She holds two Bachelor in History and Biology and learned more about sustainable development in the first year of her Master's. She graduated with a Climate, Land Use, and Ecosystem Services Master in 2020.
Julia previously worked at the international level on the climate and nature nexus, specifically in the private sector as well as youth engagement in international policies and actions for nature, including nature-based solutions, with a focus on the Post-2020 GBF. At Youth4Nature, she brings her expertise on those specific topics and international climate negotiations as policy task force lead and Global Ambassador. She is interested in environmental justice, biodiversity conservation and policy.
Julia currently works on the topic of stakeholders at the European level and provides support to science-society-policy interface activities and projects integrating biodiversity stakeholders.
Cesar Montes Figueroa
Mexico | he/him
Delegation role: Comms, Media, & Storytelling Lead
Iman Lalani
United Kingdom | she/her
Delegation role: Fundraising & Youth Solidarity Lead
Born in Guadalaja, Mexico, Cesar studied Biology at UNAM and has worked with the Conservation Genetics Lab in subjects related to crop diversity conservation, especially cotton, maize and Mexican native varieties.
Cesar also has journalism and science communication experience having working in the C3 (Center of Complexity Sciences) and the Unit of Investigative Journalism Corriente Alterna.
Cesar has been collaborating with Y4N for 2 years, especially in the Storytelling unit. He is also a long time collaborator of CASA CEM, an NGO from Guadalajara working with environmental and pollution mitigation policies.
Iman is a 4th year Lester B. Pearson and Laidlaw Research Scholar at the University of Toronto Mississauga majoring in Environmental Management and Human Geography and minoring in Environmental Policy and Law.
Growing up in the U.K., Pakistan, and Kenya, Iman worked on and led various volunteering, afforestation, and educational projects that sparked her interest in sustainable development. She is particularly interested in learning about decolonizing the ways in which we achieve environmental justice.