Youth Voices Needed In Battling Climate Change

There are increased calls for youth in Jamaica and the region to engage in the decision-making process for local and national risk-reduction strategies in relation to climate change.

This was disclosed at the Youth Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean, which took place Wednesday (October 26) at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General at the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori, said as the consequences of climate change worsen, “good government, accountability and progress require engagement of the civil society and youth”.

“The voice of the world’s youth has been a powerful tool in driving many countries to develop plans to achieve net-zero-two emissions by 2050, so that we can keep global temperature rise at one point five degrees above pre-industrial levels,” she stated.

“Ensuring youth participation is a key driver behind the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Youth Engagement Action Plan,” she further disclosed.

She noted this action plan is in collaboration with the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development.

Meanwhile, UNICEF’s Representative to Jamaica, Mariko Kagoshima, said the organisation remains committed to paying special attention to the “specific risks faced by children, adolescents and young people throughout the Caribbean and the Americas”.

“In order to achieve a greater collective impact, UNICEF is working with and for young people in all sectors to achieve a more integrated approach to reducing disaster risk with a special focus on groups with the greatest vulnerabilities, such as children.”

The Youth Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas and the Caribbean includes participants aged 15 to 24 from in the Caribbean, North, Central and South America and is spearheaded by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.