United Nations Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres named seven young climate leaders Thursday to be his Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, underlining the role of youth advocates in climate action.
They include advocates, tribal land defenders, educators, and activists and will serve through the end of next year. They鈥檙e the second-ever group of climate youth advisers, the first having been selected in 2020.
They were selected by Guterres from Poland, the Gambia, Saint Lucia, Philippines, Colombia/Paraguay, Ireland and the U.S. The team will advise the United Nations on climate action and policies.
At the announcement, Guterres urged young climate advocates around the world to continue raising their voices and said that the 鈥渦nrelenting conviction鈥� of young people is essential to keeping climate goals within reach, lowering fossil fuel emissions, and delivering climate justice.
Fatou Jeng, a climate educator and frontline activist from Gambia, now a U.N. advisor, said she鈥檚 devastated that her generation will have to bear the burden of the 鈥渃limate destruction done by the older generation.鈥�
鈥淵outh constitute the majority of the population of the African continent and play a crucial role in addressing the impacts of climate change,鈥� said Jeng. 鈥淵oung people should be at the center for justice and action.鈥�
In accepting her new advisory role, Ayisha Siddiqa, a Pakistan-American human rights and tribal land defender, said all communities can protect their environment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 too big of a responsibility to try to save everything all at once," Siddiqa said. 鈥淲e need people working towards protecting their little corners of the world ... My message is: You don鈥檛 have to do it all, but give your little corner of the world, your all."
From the spearheaded by Greta Thunberg to the recent , young people are credited as playing a significant role in challenging global leaders to take action against the fossil fuel industry.
At a Youth Climate Summit in September 2019, Guterres said that his generation had failed at preserving both justice and the environment and said that youth are essential to holding older generations accountable to 鈥渕ake sure that we don鈥檛 betray the future of humankind.鈥�
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Isabella O'malley, The Associated Press
